The Era of Harmony: The Recovery from Armageddon
by Fern0
Summary: The first year after the war of armageddon brings new challenges and hardships as the forces of light recover from the war in the newly freed realm of edenia. Liu Kang and Kitana aim to reconnect with each other, Jade envies her best friend, but little does she know that someone has his eyes on her... DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
1. Prologue: The Final Battle Act I

**_DDISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OR ANY PART OF THE MORTAL KOMBAT FRANCHISE WHAT SO EVER. ALL RIGHTS AND LEGAL CLAIMS TO IT BELONG TO WB._**

Earthrealm year 2006

The Final battle act I

 _Dark clouds began to muster over the southern continent of Edenia as the forces of light finally reach the final hilltop to where the final battle that would take place. A giant slab of land with backgrounds that had beautiful green grass stretching out as far as they eye could see._

Princess Kitana looked out into the distance as she sighed. She could hear her mother Sindel, the Queen of Edenia giving a speech to all the soldiers from behind her. Another edenian wearing emerald about the same age as Kitana came from behind and stood beside her. "You look so sad Kitana, what's wrong?" Her long-time friend Jade, general of the Edenian army asked as she put her hand on Kitana's shoulder. "Nothing really… Just thinking about how we all got here" Jade patted her shoulder as Kitana looked up and smiled.

Kitana's POV

 _As I waited for the moment to charge into battle, I couldn't help but think why all of this was happening to my kingdom. I looked over beside me to see my best friend Jade and beside her were the shaman nightwolf, an old ally kung lao, and the recently rebuilt cyber warrior cyrax. After uncovering what the real prophecy was from what we were told before. I thought back to what the prophecy had said: The demigods two sons of our god Argus had suspended them within earthrealm were to awake the same time as the other and return to edenia to compete in some twisted contest that would decide the successor and stop the apocalypse. Not long ago, a group of our scouts around edenia had reported in. The two brothers have returned to edenia at last. Knowing that, our mission was clear: We had to prevent the forces of darkness from reaching the top of the pyramid at all costs._

 _Amongst all of this happening, I had a personal mission of my own which only a few others knew about. After the last battle in outworld to free edenia, I thought that maybe things were okay for now. While I was sleeping, I could hear his caring and warm voice call out to me. I woke up and slowly rubbed my eyes as I was stirred from my sleep and I nearly jumped from such joy and happiness that had suddenly filled my heart. It was the spirit of my beloved, and former champion of Mortal Kombat… Liu kang, he was levitating before me in a transparent form. Almost immediately, I felt my heart sink back down from sadness. He was so close to me, but yet still out of my reach. We last saw each other a few days ago when he freed me and our other allies from onaga's encampment, even though it was his spirit, I felt my heart melting as it seemed… bittersweet. Looking at his eyes, I could tell that it was filled with turmoil and sadness._

 _Liu then began to tell me horrible things that I never knew that were very frightening. He told me that his body had been reanimated and sent on a rampage within earthrealm. He didn't much more from what he said, but I could tell just by the anguish and horror from his face that there was much more to it._

 _At that moment, I knew that somehow, some way I had to help him. After a short time talking we both agreed that whoever or whatever was controlling his body was going to be after Blaze's power too and we would more than likely meet on the day of the final battle when we all came together._

 _Now that day has finally come…_

 _I felt Jade nudge me which caught my attention from my thoughts and looked up ahead and she looked at me and nodded and looked back ahead and extended her staff. Along the horizon and from dust getting in my eyes, I blinked and saw what we had been waiting for. The forces of darkness were approaching us. I looked back at mother, her glance had met mine and she nodded to me. I turned around and took a few deep breaths as I took out my steel fans. I took the first few steps and everyone else started to follow. As we started running head on towards the forces of darkness, I knew that this fight was going to be the bloodiest one in the centuries I have lived._

 _One way or another…. I have to survive this battle…. I must… No matter what._

As the armies of light and darkness clashed, Kitana was easily dispatching the lesser foes one after the other when suddenly from behind her she felt a firm kick on her back as she nearly fell face first. She turned quickly with her fans at the ready and facing her was the black dragon thug kano. Kitana glared at him and charged with such speed that kano didn't even notice that her fan had gone through his stomach. Kitana then smiled as she opened them up and kano's blood splattered everywhere around him as his now lifeless body fell to the ground in two halves. Kitana looked over and saw that Jade was having a bit of trouble and started to make her way over when she was blindsided with a blade nearly impaling her but her quick reaction saved her from death. She looked down at the wound and saw Baraka laughing at her with his blades out. As soon as kitana could get ready, Baraka felt a pair of hands around his neck and before he could react, all she heard was a loud snapping sound as baraka's neck was snapped. The lifeless body dropped to the floor and Jade was standing behind him shaking her head.

"I thought tarkatans had good sense of hearing" jade snickered as she helped kitana up. Kitana thanked jade briefly when the ground beneath them began to shake viciously. The land began to cave in when Kitana saw the land Jade standing on was caving in, she whipped out her fans and waved them in such a manner that Jade was rising upwards instead of falling. Kitana then pulled as hard as she could to only fall back on the ground with jade looking down at her. "You really need to be careful Kitana" Jade said with a smirk as Kitana gave her a friendly glare, Behind them both, the pyramid that was in the prophecy had appeared and on top of it was almost a blinding light of orange energy. Kitana recognized what it was and said what it was as Jade looked at confusion. "It's Blaze."

Suddenly more enemy troops were coming towards them. Jade pushed Kitana back suddenly "Get going! Make sure that you're there to help the others protect it! I'll cover you!" as jade said while seamlessly making her stand against each punishing wave of enemies. Kitana started to run to the pyramid when she stopped at the steps and looked out and pondered where the reanimated body of her beloved was amongst all of this.  
Walking up from behind her, emperor of Outworld and her "father", Shao Kahn noticed Kitana had her guard down. Lifting his hammer to a ready stance, he said behind her in a sarcastic tone "Greetings my beloved daughter" Kitana snapped back into reality as she heard shao kahn, she started to turn around when his hammer came into contact with her chest. Kitana felt the wind being knocked out of her along with several of her ribs breaking as she fell to the ground swiftly.  
After sliding on the ground several feet, Kitana was trying to get up when shao kahn was standing above her and he laughed as he jumped effortlessly on to the top of the pyramid nearly killing shang tsung who was also near the top.  
Somehow managing to dodge shao kahn's mighty swings, shang tsung found an opening and nearly kicked shao kahn off the pyramid. As shao kahn got up, a loud shriek was heard from the sky. Kitana struggled to get up as she looked up and with horror she realized who it was. "By the gods… It can't be!" she said as she tried to turn over onto her back. Shao kahn did not have enough time to react when Onaga the dragon king flew in and took shao kahn and flew out quickly in a hurry.

A/N: This USED to be one long chapter but I thought it would be better to split it into two chapters instead. Feel free to leave a review on what you liked and/or how i can make it better :3


	2. Prologue: The Final Battle Act II

The Final Battle Act II

Shang tsung saw the path to the godly energy open and just as he was about to climb up to it, something had caught his attention suddenly. Kitana noticed him readying his fighting stance but she saw horror and fear on his face and she HAD to look over to where he was looking. Out in the distant, a silhouette began to form. Kitana tried to focus with what energy she could muster and see that the figure was a man, rotting grey skin with some of it starting to fall off, black hair that was starting to fade away chunks at a time, and she saw a familiar black pant with a red hash tied to it. Kitana started to tear up. _"Elders… This…. This is so much worse than I had thought…"_ the princess said to herself.  
It was none other than Liu kang's reanimated body that was now running towards shang tsung with incredible speed. Shang tsung leaped down and close lined the mindless body as he laughed and started to make his way up the pyramid, when the undead body swung the hooks attached to his arms and threw them at the unaware sorcerer. All that could be heard was a loud scream of unimaginable pain as the lifeless body of liu kang pulled on the chains which not only killed the sorcerer from the fall of impact, but also reversed him to his old and fragile state.

Suddenly, a bright light engulfed the flames on top of the pyramid. Kitana noticed the individual at the top had a dragon mark on his right eye. It…It's Taven!" Kitana shockingly said. Suddenly an intense light shined from taven as he started to charge into battle and then there was an explosion of air and light from the release of blaze's powerful energy and everyone was knocked onto the ground knocking them unconscious.

"Hey! I found her! She's over here!" Kitana barely had enough energy left to open her eyes as she looked up trying to see who was calling out to the others. Those voices were none other than Johnny cage and Jax right beside her and Kitana mustered what strength she had to try to get his attention.

"J..Jax…? Is… is that….. You?" Jax barely heard kitana and he bent down and slowly eased her up as she came to a little bit more and saw a bit more clearly that around her was her friends from the forces of light. Kung lao, Sonya blade holding onto Johnny for support due to a fractured hip and Jax holding Kitana up while her mother Sindel and Jade on the opposite side.  
Kitana smiled at the presence of everyone and she coughing a bit from exhaustion when she remembered something important.

"Wa…Wait a minute. Where's Liu Kang!?" in a panicking voice.

Jade pondered as well vouching for the princess. "Yeah, I saw him too right before the blast".

Kung looked down with his hat in his hand. "We haven't been able to find him or his body.."

Kitana started to have all too familiar feelings of being so heartbroken once again as a tear fell from her face when she saw a shadow walking towards her amongst ruined lands. Kitana started to limp towards the shadow but jade grabbed her out of fear "Kitana! Don't go!" Kitana hesitantly stepped back. When the shadow become more visable, Kitana limped over and as jade started to run to her, Sindel stopped Jade and shook her head as if to tell her to let Kitana go. Reluctantly, the general stood back frowning and watched kitana slowly limp towards the shadow. As soon as she got closer and saw who the person was, she felt her heart beating much faster out of pure happiness as she saw standing in front of her, the one and only man she has fallen in love with. Liu Kang.  
He walked up to her and slowly looked into her grey eyes that were usually a beautiful shade of hazel. For a moment, Kitana and Liu just stood there holding each other's hands when Liu smiled at her.

"Well… It looks like I have my body again" He said gently while holding her hands together with his own. Kitana fell right into his arms and Liu kang looked down at her and hugged his beloved lover in his arms. Everyone else came running up to them and kitana looked behind her and saw everyone coming towards them with smiles. For the first time in many years, Kitana had a wide smile on her face that hadn't been seen in a long time.

Things looked hopeful for Kitana as she turned back to liu kang smiling down at her with his brown eyes that hypnotized her as she felt comfort just be looking at him. However, things turned for the worse as she saw right behind her newly resurrected beloved, a projectile heading right for him. She looked at the javelin that was fast approaching and without even thinking about the kind of condition she was in, Kitana tripped Liu kang causing him to fall as the javelin pierced Kitana's abdomen and it exited out of her right hip and then light green javelin vanished. Kitana then gasped and blood started to come from her throat as her eyes rolled back as she collapsed.  
Liu kang who got up from being tripped was horrified and Sindel and Jade were brought to tears instantly. The bright green javelin had impailed Kitana in the stomach right through to her liver. "KITANA!" The three of them shouted together as Liu kang fell to his knees looking at the one woman the he had ever fallen so deeply in love with, now laying in a pool of blood in front of his eyes just moments of them reuniting again. Sindel held her daughter's head close and began to sob as Jade was panicking and using every ounce of energy to keep her heart going.

From amongst the dead bodies that surrounded them, everyone heard a familiar laugh that they knew only one person could make.

"Such a pity I missed my intended target. I never really was good at throwing that blasted thing anyway" Shao kahn chuckled. Everyone else ran up and surrounded the queen and jade in fighting stances, but from behind them, they felt a surge of energy that they remembered. They all looked at Liu Kang who was on his knees still but surrounding him slowly was a feint aura of flames.

"You…. You…. Bastard…" He clenched his fists and a little bit of blood started to drip "I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!" Liu kang slammed his fists on the ground causing the ground to shake and shatter. The powerful energy surfaced from within him. The aura from liu kang grew brighter as he fixed his gaze upon shao kahn which his friends and allies stepped out of the way.

Shao kahn laughed as he summoned his hammer to his side. "Come at me then monk! Let's see you!" Liu kang then started to run at him with such speed that before shao kahns hammer could make contact, Liu kang yelled and punched him square in the jaw and felt it snap as he sent the emperor flying into the dirt." Liu kang than straddled him and started to punch his face with a left hook followed by a right hook and he kept going despite shao kahn struggling to get up.  
Liu kang's rage and hatred began to surface as his punches started to get harder and with each hit, the ground shook more and more violently. Kung lao could sense that the life force from kahn was gone, but liu kang kept wailing at his face.

Kung lao tried to grab him to get him to stop. "Liu, he's gone. He's dead" Liu kang ignored him as he let out the remaining hatred and anger out on to the brutally disfigured face and with one last punch, the ground shook harder. Liu kang stood up and the anger that had consumed him vanished.

When he regained control of his emotions, his heart sank down to whatever pit that was inside him as he ran to kitana's side. Jade had tried everything to keep her heart steady but she needed proper medical attention quickly. Liu kang wrapped his arms around her motionless body and began to water up from such emotions. Kitana barely able to stay conscious, she opened her eyes just enough to look at the man she loved and she when she spoke, her voice was so weak and broken; Liu kang was barely able to keep his composure as he smiled at his beloved.

"L…Liu? Is… is th…that you?" She just had enough strength to lean into his chest.

Jax spoke up suddenly alerting the queen. "We must get her back to the palace now!" Sindel nodded and looked at jade.

"Jade, get back to the portal and have all available medics and doctors and healers as well as the grandmaster healer standing at the ready at the portal entrance and lastly, send an emergency message to the admiral saying to send the freedom fighters."

Jade raised an eyebrow, "The freedom fighters? Why not the royal guards?."  
Sindel glared at Jade with anger.

"My daughter is at the brink of death, all of our allies are wounded and need time to rest and heal and that would leave our realm in unimaginable danger from the lack of protection that we all need at the palace to recover. Now get moving Jade!" With her intructions, Jade nodded and ran into the portal that Jax had created to get things ready. Liu looked up at Queen Sindel and noticed the worried look on her face. "Come, we must get her home with haste" Liu slowly nodded with a worried look upon him. Being ever so gentle, he scooped up Kitana who was barely with them still cringes in pain as they hurried into the portal to the royal palace of edenia.

A/N: This is my first attempt at something like this o_o" Please leave a review if you enjoyed it and/or wish to leave a helpful note on what you thought i could have done better ^_^ I have a few ideas on what the next chapter will be like and i'll start on it shortly!


	3. Chapter 1: Healing of tender pains

_**Chapter I: Healing of tender pains**_

 _ **The forces of light begin to heal and pick themselves back up, the queen meets with the royal council, and an unknown warrior enters edenia...**_

* * *

 _ **March 10th, earthrealm year 2006  
**_

 _ **Edenian Royal Palace**_

"Come on, hurry up grandmaster! They'll be here any second!" Waiting at the bottom of the entrance to the royal palace was Jade as she seemed to be in a hurry and very anxious as well. "Humph… This had better not be one of our queen's "royalty emergencies" like last time… If it is, then I am leaving." A knowledgeable but soft spoken old man came around the corner frowning in annoyance. He was known as Grand Healer Yuhanna*. Coming around behind him were his top pupils in the healing magics.

Then Jade heard a loud ripping sound echo throughout the palace as she turned around and started running towards the portal.

"It's them! Come on!" Jade said with urgency. The grand healer walked down with Jade and crossed his arms "I hope you are correct for your sake General Jade. I will not have yo-"

As the forces of light came through the portal, the grand healer started to have a horrified look of absolute fear on his face as he saw the princess cradled in Liu's arms bleeding an atrocious amount of blood and it had already soaked his tunic and was dripping blood where he was walking.

"By the elders…. Our… Our princess…" The old healer couldn't stop shaking as one of the last ones to come out of the portal was Queen Sindel.

"Given that look on your face I haven't seen in so many years, you now understand why I had Jade go on ahead to get you Yuhanna?" The queen had an eyebrow raised as she looked right at the old healer. "Y...Y…Yes your majesty" Yuhanna took a deep breath and turned to his pupils. "Make haste for medical centre and prep for our arrival."

As the healer finished giving swift directions to his pupils, he walked quickly to Liu kang and scooped Kitana from his arms.

"I need to begin to heal her to slow down the trauma" Kitana had enough energy to sense that she was not being held by her partner's warm embrace anymore and had started to tear up and look around.

"Where… Where is Liu Kang?" she looked behind the healers' arms as Liu was out of her reach and now started to move around with such force that the healer nearly dropped her.  
"Liu! No! Liu don't leave me alone! Please Liu!" She started to move more violently as the healer was barely able to keep her in his arms to heal her properly. "Princess, please calm down. I cannot focus on the spell while you're moving around like this".  
Kitana eventually fell out of his arms and dropped onto the floor and she reached towards her beloved ignoring the pain that she was in and how much blood she was losing. She just wanted to be with him. To feel his warmth that soothes her.  
"Liu… please… don't go please… don't leave me alone here…" Kitana said with a voice that made Liu kang's heart sink down into his chest from what he was seeing. He knew she was hurting bad from being apart from him for so long, but he now saw just how much she was holding back as he was looking into her eyes. Her eyes were a dark grey that looked like a rain cloud and tears falling down and she was shaking so much.

The healers began to run back to get Kitana again and just as they got ahold of her, Liu kang stepped forward.

"Grand healer please stop. let me carry her." Liu looked right into the eyes of the healer and he said something in Edenian to call back the additional healers. Liu nodded as if to say thank you and he ran over to Kitana and he carefully scooped her into his arms.

"My love, I'm here now. You can relax now" Liu softly said to her as he held her close while she had her face buried in his chest.  
The healer sighed with relief a little but motioned liu over towards him.

"We must make haste to the healing center or she will not make it" the healer said. Meanwhile the others were being tended to by other doctors and healers within the center not too far from one room that was sectioned away from the others. Liu and the grand healer ran into the center with Kitana in Liu's arms coughing occasionally and eventually they came upon the room that had been prepared. "Is the room ready?" A short nurse nodded and bowed "Yes grand healer, the room is ready along with your pupils".

Liu entered the room along with Sindel and Jade and others who were able to walk. The healer ran towards the bed that had been prepared for Kitana. A set of doors opened and Kitana's room was right at the end of the hallway and with the help of some of the other doctors; they moved the cot she was to be placed on into healing room.

"Quickly, lay lady Kitana on this bed here" Liu nodded and gently placed Kitana on the soft bed and just as Liu was about to stand up right, he felt something tugging him down and he looked down to see Kitana holding his wrist with the last of her strength and had a tear swelling up. "Please…. Don't go…." The princess whimpered softly as her beloved went to go get a chair and he sat down beside the bed next to Kitana and he held her hand with both of his and smiled at her. "Don't worry my love; I'm going to be right here beside you."

The doctors and healers had spells at the ready as the grand healer began to cut off the injured princess' armor to expose the wound and as the parts were coming off, the amount of blood that was dripping made him curse in edenian and when he finally removed the last part, he shuddered at source of all of her pain and bleeding.

"Gah… it's worse than I thought…" The healer snarled as he looked at her wound and he looked back at the healers all busy with other patients.

"I need ANY available healers to me immediately!" an older gentleman and lady came running to the bed and were ready to help.

He glanced over at Liu "I need you to prop lady Kitana onto her side as gently as possible with her face towards you" Liu nodded and gently rolled her towards him and Kitana was cringing and whimpering in pain as she was being rolled onto her side. The grand healer took a look the wound on both sides and he snarled.

"Curses! The wound goes right through!" The grand healer began to get into a ready stance as the healers rushed back with various bottles of sedatives and medicines for Kitana to take. Liu tilted her head and helped her take the numerous sedatives and medications and he looked at the healer who had a bright white energy flowing around his body.

"Healers, restrain the princess as best you can." Liu held onto Kitana's hand and nodded towards the healer.

The grand healer then unleashed a powerful healing spell at the side of the wound where it was bleeding the most. The spell was very powerful as the healers had a hard time trying to restrain the princess who was in an indescribable amount of pain aside from a hazy yet numbed mind from such heavy loss of blood, but her body tensed up from the spell as she let out a shriek that sent chills to anyone inside the palace. Sindel pardoned herself from the room quietly as she had trouble holding back tears. Jade noticed the queen leave and followed to comfort her quietly. As Kitana was thrashing about, Liu was stroking her head and running his fingers through her long, thick black hair to try to keep her somewhat calm. Whatever was left of her consciousness, she felt her beloved trying to keep her calm and her thrashing about began to stop as the sedatives were starting to kick in as Kitana began to slowly pass out and the grand healer smiled softly and began to focus more on the spell.

A few hours later, the grand healer had just finished up the healing along with a layer of bandages to help keep everything together and let out a sigh of relief as he couldn't remember the last time he had felt so exhausted.

"Good gracious… It's been centuries since I felt this spent" He got up and Liu was still sitting by his beloved's side not moving an inch. He walked towards liu and put his hand on his shoulder.

"You mustn't worry now, lady Kitana should be safe from the worst of all pains now, but due to the severity of the wound, she will need a lot of assistance to help her heal properly." Liu followed quietly with a large empty sack in his hands and looked up.

"I will be there with her ensure that she gets better grand healer. Even if it means that I have to suffer in any way to make sure." The healer smiled and took out two large bottles of the sedative and another small sack of the mixing powder.  
"Make sure that is mixed in together before she takes the medicine." Liu nodded and the grand healer's eyes looked at him with a less business like glance which had worry in them. When he spoke, he spoke very softly.  
"On a side note… She'll need a lot more than just medicine and rest…" Liu looked at him with determination and clenched his empty hand. "I will do everything within my abilities to be with her and help her through this" The old healer bowed at him. "Very well master Liu kang, I will fetch the queen now and retire to bed. I shall be back tomorrow morning or at around noon to check on her progress."  
Liu bowed back to the grand master and he walked back over to Kitana as she lay on the bed numbed from medicine and the effects of the sedatives. Sindel and Jade rushed into the room and saw Kitana all bandaged up from where the wound was and to help the shattered ribs heal properly too. Liu was sitting in the chair next to her silently as if he was within his own thoughts. Sindel gently let the mortal kombat champion she was here and said softly "Come, we need to get her into her own bed now. Liu nodded and scooped her up carefully as Sindel nodded at him and started walking towards the door at the end of the hallway.

The walk towards Kitana's bedroom was slow and very quiet as no one would dare say a word as to what they saw in the healing room. Sindel glanced back at her daughter who was cradled in liu's arms and looked down and sighed. Liu knew that he had his own sanity to keep in check, otherwise he felt like he couldn't help Kitana with her problems. Jade opened the doors and pulled back the bed sheets as Liu walked in and gently placed his beloved into the bed and Sindel walked in not too far behind him. As Liu went to sit up, he felt that same tugging like earlier and he looked down at her and saw the same look in her eyes. Never has he seen her so broken, so helpless so…defeated before in all the time he has known her.

"Liu… Liu please don't leave me again… I need you…" She softly spoke with just enough energy to speak. Sindel sat on the opposite side and stroked her head. "Liu Kang will be offered a bed and room darling, he will be close to you, but now you need to rest." He nodded and spoke as well. "She's right Kitana, I'll be right here with you from now on"  
Kitana laid her head on the pillow and smiled a tiny bit. "Heh…We…We did it… Didn't we?" Liu nodded and rubbed his warm hands on her cheek. "Yes we did my love, but your mother is right, you need to rest now." Sindel sat up once Kitana had been claimed from a mix of exhaustion and the sedatives and looked at liu kang. "Given what has transpired here, I assume that you want to stay as close to her as possible?" The queen asked quietly. Liu nodded and the queen nodded back and looked at the doors to see Jade along with some of the guards carrying in a futon and mattress with sheets. "With the futon in here, you'll be as close as possible to Kitana now to help her take any medications. As for me, I cannot stay awake anymore and need to retire to my chambers." The queen looked at Liu and lightly bowed her head and left.

Jade wandered in after sharing a few thoughts with the exhausted queen and saw liu beside Kitana with a pale look on his face. When she approached him, Jade kneeled down to meet with his eyes. "Do you have a moment?" the general asked quietly not to wake Kitana from the much needed rest she needed. Liu looked at her then back at Kitana as he still held her hand. "Yes I do right now actually". The two warriors walked out to the balcony bench and sat on opposite ends. Noticing the monks bloodied and bruised knuckles, "Hold out your hands for a moment, I'll fix them right up" as she prepared a basic healing spell that she learned over the years.

Liu held both his hands out and watched her heal his wounds. It felt a bit like a little burn, but strangely soothing at the same time. It was only then that he realized just how badly his beat down on shao Kahn was. She finished up and Liu moved his newly healed hands and smiled at her. "Wow, thank you so much for that" "The general chuckled a bit "Not a problem, you're going to need them to help Kitana get better. I knew that she was holding in everything to keep herself going, but deep down I knew that she hadn't given herself enough time to properly heal… Now I know just how bad it is" The champion felt such regret that others around her had to suffer when he knew full well that it was learning that he had died was the reason why. "I don't know what I can actually do to help" His eyes then met the worried generals with a smile. "but it's all over, we've won and we must move forward now. As Jade was leaving, she stopped and looked back with worry "Right now, she needs a lot of comfort, rest and knowing everyone that loves her is here for her, but most importantly, you. Please take care of her for me."

Quietly making his way to the other end of Kitana's room, Liu set the futon and comforter that the palaces assistants had brought to the edge of her bed and changed into simple pyjamas and looked over at Kitana who looked to be sound asleep, he leaned over her forehead and gently placed a sweet kiss and brushed her long ebony black hair back with his hands. "Hang in there my love… I don't want to lose you ever again" He softly whispered and reluctantly he laid down on the futon and closed his eyes.

In the middle of the night, the princess had awoken from her short slumber hoping to see her champion next to her, but when she opened her eyes and saw no one around, her eyes started to swell up and she shot up ignoring any pains from her broken body while looking around the room for liu.

"L-Liu? Liu where are you?" She heard a quiet snore near her bed, so Kitana looked over the edge to see who it was and there on the futon asleep was her champion and she let out a sigh of relief to see him there. She felt her heart flutter just at the look of him lying there fast asleep. She wanted him closer to her. "I'm probably going to regret this later...but I don't care, I need this" the princess thought to herself as she stumbled out of her own bed, she cringed from the pain of her healing wounds and using up whatever strength she could muster, Kitana managed to herself to the futon and lay as close to him as possible. She then turned over onto her side now facing him and she felt his warmth close to her body and she let out a blissful sigh. She knew that he was fast asleep, but knowing that he was right next to her helped the princess relax just a little bit more. Kitana then thought to herself while laying closer to him. "I don't know how to talk to him about my nightmares and flashbacks of him being killed, but for now I'll wait until he's awake" As she closed her eyes and shortly fell asleep from exhaustion.

* * *

 _ **March 11th**_

Queen Sindel had woken up a little earlier than she expected to. When she realized she had a little bit of time to spare before she was to meet with the Edenian Royalty Council, she put on a light robe and made her way to her daughter chambers wondering how she was doing considering everything that she has been through in the past few months. Letting out a sigh, the queen carefully pried open the doors to Kitana's chamber and saw her daughter curled up on the floor next to Liu kang... With a confused look, she walked over to the sleeping couple and gazed at them and to her surprise, on Kitana's pale face was a very tiny smile as she was cooing while sound asleep next to him. The queen chuckled quietly and left to her meeting with the council.  
While making her way over to the council, her trusted general saw her walking and jogged up to catch up with her.

"Ah Jade, there you are. Is the council ready? Letting out a sigh of boredom, the general nodded and walked with the queen to the room."Yes my queen, they are finally ready." Jade then leaned in to whisper to Sindel "Although they tend to drag things on for too long if you ask me" The queen couldn't help but laugh as she knew this was true.

Meanwhile, Liu kang had woken up but as he looked around, he saw Kitana curled up into his chest fast asleep. He looked down at her beautiful face ignoring the paleness from being so weak and couldn't help but notice a tiny little smile on her face as she slept peacefully in his arms. In fear of waking his beloved, Liu decided to just lay there on the futon with Kitana and occasionally brushing her hair with his hands and kissing her forehead. Eventually Kitana let out a tired moan and Liu looked down at her as she slowly come to and looking around her surroundings and saw Liu in front of her and she started to swell up with tears. Liu started to have a worrisome look on his face seeing her tears flow down from her face and he gently placed his hand on her cheek. "What's wrong Kitana?" "It's just... I'm just happy to know that you're alive again..." The princess quietly murmured. Her champion wiped her tears with his thumb and placed his forehead against hers gently. "I don't think I could have been able to return into my body without your help." "Oh Liu..." She started to swell up even more than before and she buried her face into his chest and liu quietly held her as close to his chest as possible without aggravating her injuries. The princess looked up into her champion's light honey brown eyes. "Please don't leave me again..." She was sobbing harder and more uncontrollably and Liu felt his heart shatter from the inside knowing that his death was the primary reason why Kitana was so broken.

Liu finally understood the true depths of the princess' sorrows and pains over the past few months and what has been killing her from the inside as he held her in his chest, and then he placed two fingers under Kitana's chin to lift her head up so that he could look into her eyes. He saw her eyes up close carefully and saw that they were hollow looking as if they were a hole, dark black bags under her eyes from lack of proper sleeping, and her bloodshot eyes from so much crying and sobbing in his arms. With compassion and such care, he pulled her closer and planted his lips upon her own and it felt as bittersweet as it felt like time had stopped suddenly for them to revel in the feeling of such love and tenderness.  
It has been nearly a whole decade since they last kissed and Kitana cupped her hand onto Liu's cheek until the reluctantly pulled back from each other with the need of oxygen and press each other's foreheads amongst one another and while wiping off the warrior princess' tears, he noticed a tiny flicker of hope within her eyes. "I've missed you so much..." the champion quietly murmured and the Kitana couldn't help but tuck her head under his neck with such comfort. "I've missed you too Liu... So much..."  
Liu planted another kiss on her forehead when they both heard a knock on the door, feeling like the moment had been ruined for them both, Kitana frowned letting out a sad sigh as well as little bit of a pout.

"I think that's the grandmaster" Liu softly said to her. "Ugh... He just had to come now and ruin this moment... Well, could you help me into my bed then?" Kitana smiled as she was scooped up into the arms of the man she had placed all of her love into and when he went to put her down in her bed, she didn't want to let go as she pouted again urging Liu to lean in for another soft kiss on her lips. After the need for oxygen overcame the moment, Kitana reluctantly let go of him and looked towards the door as Liu opened it to see the grandmaster outside her chambers with a tray of several medicines and dishes of pre-made foods.

"Ah good morning master liu, has lady Kitana awaken yet?" giving a slight bow to the mortal kombat champion and passed off the tray to him. Bowing back respectively to the healer, Liu took the tray and followed him to Kitana's bed. "yes sir, she just woke up not too long ago actually, I have helped her to maneuver around her room so she could tend to her personal needs".

Pulling up a chair to sit near the wounded princess, the healer looked over her carefully and took notes as he inspected. "How are you feeling this morning madam? Any kind of pains or irritations with the bandages?"

Kitana shrugged with a dulled look on her face.  
"Well... As well as anyone in my position would be I suppose... I'm just glad that I'm even healing at all sir."

The grandmaster let out a small sigh from hearing the princess was doing well, then he pulled out a rod that was the length of Kitana's forearm.  
"As glad as I am to hear that you are doing well madam, however I need to inspect the healing spots and bandages to see if they are healing properly and if anything needs adjusting or not."  
Kitana groaned and she had liu help her to remove her clothes to reveal the bandages that were pale white in some spots, but Yuhanna noticed crimson red in some other locations  
"Hmmm... I think your body isn't reacting very well to the medicine madam, it looks like in order for it to work properly, and you will have to eat right after taking it so the swelling stays down."

As the healer walked around and poked and prodded her body, Liu felt his hand being crushed from Kitana squeezing it so hard, but he didn't give a thought to care about it as all he was focused on was her.  
After finishing up the testings and adjusting her bandages, the grand master bowed to the couple. "It looks like you are on the mend madam, but it will still be quite some time before you are able to do anything physical on your own am afraid."

"I'll take what I can get at this point sir and thank you so much for everything" Kitana nodded back at the healer as he left the room and closed the doors to give them privacy.  
Liu sat at the other end of the bed rubbing her arm and looked over at her still cringing from the prodding. "How are you holding up?" Liu then leaned into her and gently kissed her cheek making her heart nearly skip a beat or two from such tenderness and care.

"I'll live I guess, although I'm quite tired now from that test" She inched closer to her champion and laid her head upon his chest and took in his scent and drifted into a deep sleep from the medications and sedatives. Liu then laid down with her so she could rest without being in anymore pain.

 _ **Meanwhile in the council's meeting/courtroom...**_

Once all the respective councils were present and accounted for, Sindel then stood up to speak. "I thank each and every one of you for coming on such short notice. As you all are aware: the war is finally over and we can now turn our attentions to rebuilding and refortifying our realm. Does anyone want to add anything?"

"I do your highness; if I may be permitted speak." Standing up and giving a respectable bow was one of the more recent members of the council but exceptionally talented as well as intelligent, councillor Jordan was in charge of the borders and any issues that were outside of edenia. Sindel nodded in return of the gesture and sat back down. "You may speak young councillor."

"Thank you your highness. As you are all aware that even though the war is over, and edenia is in peace right now. This poses a question to me that should be highly considered." The councillor spoke as she paced around the room. "How _**TRUELY**_ safe is Edenia right now? We have no knowledge of where any of the most wanted criminals to our kingdom are and what plans they have in motion. What are we going to do to reassure ourselves tha-"

Interrupting the councillor suddenly, Jade stepped forward with a smirk on her face. "As you may know already councillor, but on the off chance that you do not: before returning to edenia, the queen asked me to send an emergency bird to the admiral to deploy the omega battalion within the main city. While doing routine sweeps and scouting, they have captured and detained several intruders who were hiding out in our realm. We also acquired knowledge of the whereabouts of one of the two edenian traitors thanks to our allies in outworld that defected over to our realm after the fall of shao kahn's armies."

The young councillor chuckled at that statement. "Ah yes, our "allies". Quite a hell of a gamble to believe them general if I say so myself. Kind of like what our lady Kitana did with our army's whe-"

With rage filling the queens white eyes, she stood up and glared at the young councillor.  
"You utter a single word more about that, and there will be no healer that is alive that will be able to fix what I do to you councillor. _**DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?**_ "  
Paralyzed with fear for her own life, she bowed to the queen and took her seat.

Sindel made her way back to her chair to speak with all of the council once more. "Now if there is nothing more to discuss, we shall meet again tomorrow morning to begin the prejudgement of the prisoners. Dismissed."

 _ **Edenian Portal Station**_

 _ **Mid-day March 11th**_

Standing guard around the station were 5 of the soldiers of the royal guard. They were not to allow a single person into the vulnerable realm without giving proper clearance. When out of the blue, a new portal opened up in the middle of the station with unknown energy signatures.

One of the soldiers ran up to an office room and opened the door with another soldier in the room. "Ma'am! There is a new portal opening up and these energy readings don't match any known realm signatures."

Inside the office room was the commanding officer at the moment as the other commanders were at the palace. She looked up at the soldier as she placed her helmet on.

"Alright, I'm coming over now. Tell the others to be armed and ready" The small soldier ran back to the main area and the officer following closely. When the two made it back to the central area, they dropped the weapons they had in their hands in total disbelief. The other soldiers had been knocked out cold and were lying unconscious with several indents in different parts of the armor. Without hesitation, the officer took out the signature scimitar that all were given upon completion of the entry of the battalion and looked at the other soldier still in shock and barked at him to get his attention.

 _"SOLDIER! GET YOUR ASS TO THE PALACE IMMEDIATELY! ALERT THE QUEENS GUARDS! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! AND TAKE MY PORTAL ID TO SAVE YOU TIME! ON THE DOUBLE!_

"Y-y-yes ma'am!" The smaller soldier ran to the opposite end of the station that was for officers only which had a portal to instantly reach the royal palace and went through it.


	4. Chapter 2: Releasing Inner Demons

**_Chapter II: Releasing inner demons  
_**

 ** _Kitana opens up to Liu about the depths of her struggles, Sindel and Jade begin the prejudgements, and the unknown person appears before the court_**

* * *

 _ **March 11th  
**_

Opening her chamber doors violently, the queen made her way back to her chambers to relax and collect herself with Jade following behind quickly.  
"The nerve of that councillor! To even DARE put personal blame on my daughter for what she helped accomplish."  
Jade shook her head in disbelief. "Wow, I still can't believe that they don't care what what Kitana has gone through to ensure our realms freedom. Let's not mention this to Kitana yet."

The queen nodded as her chamber doors bursted open and a soldier fell onto the ground from running for so long. Sindel and Jade looked back at the lone freedom fighter gasping for air as he struggled to stand and salute but Jade dismissed his need for professionalism and helped him back on his feet.

"Easy now soldier, take a few moments to collect yourself." She handed the soldier a pitcher of water and within mere seconds it had been finished. The freedom fighter fell to one knee with one arm across his chest.

"Your majesty, I-I bare dire n-n-news from the portal station." Sindel nodded her gesture for the soldier to rise.  
"What news do you have soldier that requires you to barge into my chambers without letting my administrator know ahead of time?"

The soldier bowed again quickly. "I-I I apologize your majesty, but the news I bare is of the safety of our realm an-."  
Jade sharply looked at the soldier with her staff drawn out.  
"Come again? You said our realms safety?"

"Yes general! Not too long ago a portal was opening at an unscheduled time and the readings we were getting did not match any known realm that we know of, so I went to the commanding officer as I was supposed to in order to alert her and when we returned, the other guards were down face first in the ground."

Stunningly, Jade and Sindel looked at each other then back at the soldier. Sindel rose from her seat swiftfully.

"I thank you for bringing this matter to my attention young soldier. Head down to the barracks for much needed food and rest. We'll take it from here." She calmly said and the soldier saluted and walked out of the throne room.

Pacing around in circles, Jade had become on edge as well as feelings of regret when she suddenly hit a pillar out of frustration that was bottling up which she left a fist imprint on the pillar.  
"Damn it! I should have left more officers back at the portal station! I had a feeling something like this would happen if I didn't keep more of them there... GAH! This is all my fault!"

Sindel then placed her hand on the general's shoulder calmly and smiled.  
"Do not be so hard on yourself Jade, you did what you thought was the best decision and I believe it was since most of the officers are here instead of on the ground. This just means that more of our finest and best trained veterans are here in the palace to protect key locations."  
Opening a seperate set of doors across the hall, Sindel and Jade walked into the room which temporarily housed the highest ranking officers of the royalty guard and freedom fighters. As they two made they're way to the front of the room, every officer they passed by stood at attention and saluted. Reaching the front of the room, jade first took the stand to speak.

"It has been recently brought to our attention that there is an unknown person that has breached our realm not too long ago and 4 of our royal guards now lay dead at the portal station. Given what we know, we must assume that this individual is here to terminate the royal family. That being said, the most vulnerable being our queens daughter Kitana. I want **ONLY** the best and strongest to be serving at this moment."  
Looking to the lead officers of the royal guards. The Colonel was a taller gentleman with a facial scar on his right eye, another was the major. She was a slender looking woman with grey hair and slim glasses that looked intimidating and the captain was a shorter man who was younger than most officers but disciplined. "Colonel, I want the three finished soldiers of the megaton guard unit deployed here immediately." The Colonel saluted and ran off. "Major, you organize the freedom fighters to protect the villages that are most vulnerable." The major saluted and she made haste to the back door. "Captain, you have your men secure defenses around our farms and deposits." The short captain bowed and walked at his own pace. Looking back at the remaining guards and freedom fighters Jade glanced at them all.

"As for the rest of you, you fine ladies and gentlemen will remain here at the palace and scattering yourselves into groups of 15 occupying different areas of the palace. The stealth squad's commanding officer sudden materialized behind the general. She was well dressed in crimson black armor that could only be seen to trained eyes. Bowing on one knee, the officer looked up at Jade and Sindel. "My lady, what is the will of our royalty?"  
Without looking, Jade responded to the officer almost cryptically.  
"Split the squad in three, one group for one place, home, on top, ground too."  
The officer bowed once again,  
"As you command my lady."  
With an instant to fast to see to the untrained eye, the other soldiers couldn't see the officer leave.

Jade looked back at Sindel as she nodded at her, Jade looked back at the group of soldiers.  
"Alright, you have your orders and where you all need to be, no move out!"  
"YES MA'AM!" They all shouted in unity as they all ran to the designated positions.

Sindel opened the doors and walked quickly with Jade behind her.  
"Jade, we need to hurry to my daughters chambers and alert them of the potential threat."  
Nodding and following close behind, the two women hurried towards Kitana's chambers.

* * *

 _ **Later that evening after dinner...**_

Liu Kang was out on the balcony of Kitana's room meditating peacefully while she slept. The bright orange sunset casting a beautiful glow along the rivers and waterfalls near by the palace. Liu heard a whimper coming from behind him and he turned around to see Kitana cringing and thrashing around in the bed they have shared together. Without thinking, he rushed over to the bed and sat on the edge as he gently shook her trying his best to not re open any of the wounds.

"Kitana... Kitana wake up! Please Kitana!"  
The princess' eyes shot open as she shot up from the bed not noticing the pains from her wounds. She then started to look around her room while gasping for air as if she was lacking in oxygen. Liu placed his hands onto her face and forced her to look into his eyes which made Kitana focus on him.

"Kitana! Kitana... It's okay, you're okay now... It was just a bad dream"

After coming to realize she was awake and looking at her champion, Kitana fell into his arms and began sob almost uncontrollably. Liu silently held her trying not to aggravate any of her wounds and Kitana looked up at him and she held onto him even tighter now and she looked into his eyes.

"Oh argus... I-I-I'm so glad it's you here liu..." Choking on tears as she tried to talk to him, she decided to just open up her burdens and pains all together instead of pieces at a time.  
"Liu... I can't hold this in anymore... I-I... I've been having so many nightmares and flashbacks of your death since I was... Since I was told... that you w-w-were killed.." She sobbed more in Liu's arms and he himself wasn't sure of what to do as he held her and stroked her hair softly and as he did that, she eventually began to cry less. "I know you're here with me right now...but it all seemed so real and...and you were gone and they took you away from me... Elders Liu... I can't take it anymore... I just can't..."  
Liu comforted the princess in his arms and when she was wiping tears off her face, he looked at her with utmost concern and worry.  
"Don't worry Kitana, I'm not going anywhere right now, and nor do I intended on leaving you ever again. You'll be back on your feet again in no time my love, I'm certain of that as your strength proves that. We don't have to fight anymore either Kitana, it's all over. We don't have to fight anymore."

Feeling a sudden rage filling herself, Kitana pushed Liu off the bed and glared down at him with burning passion in her eyes.  
"How can you say something like that to me Liu!? "We don't have to fight anymore!?". No matter how many times we fight and win or lose those bastards always somehow manage to come back again and then we fight once again! How are you able to be so certain of yourself that we won't have to defend ourselves any longer!? Especially given what has happened over the years to _**YOU?! TO US!?**_ "

Kitana's eye began to swell up again as tears fell from her face even more so than before. Liu stood back up and sat in front of her hold her cold shaking hands in his own and looked into her watery eyes.

"I don't know Kitana... I don't have such an answer for you..." He leaned in closer so she could look at his eyes directly. "Until trouble comes our way, or if it ever does... I refuse to live with fear always lingering over my head... No matter what has happened in the past, currently happening and events to come. We always have to move forward no matter what." Liu then placed his forehead against hers as he cupped her cheek and wiped away her tears from her beautiful eyes. "and I want you to move forward with me Kitana... together."

All the princess could do was just look into his honey brown eyes that had mesmerized her since the very first time they had met and just collapse into his chest and soaked in the moment with him and after a while, Kitana murmured a special phrase.

"I love you so much Liu..."

Taken back from what he heard her say, he could not help but smile at her as he pulled her in for a long, passionate kiss. Feeling her tongue trying to find his own, he let hers proceed in deeper and they began to swirl they're tongues with one another and Liu felt Kitana purring into the kiss and when they both needed to pry off from each other for oxygen, Liu pulled her closer into his chest and whispered softly to her.

"I love you too Kitana"

Hearing him say that was music to her ears and she could feel her heart nearly bursting out of her chest from such affection and love but was still crying a lot from the shock of her nightmare. She let out a long yawn and just wanted to fall into a deep sleep from so relaxed in his arms. Liu smiled down at her and he just as he was about to put out the lamp that was lit, Jade and Sindel barged in which alerted them both and sit up quickly.

Looking over at the two warriors in bed and her daughter in tears in Liu Kang's arms, Sindel sat on the opposite end of the bed and looked at her daughter after kissing her forehead.

"What's wrong my darling? Did you have another one of those nightmares?"

Kitana nodded slowly and she held onto her consort tighter for reassurance.

"Yes I did mother... but thankfully Liu woke me up before it had ended in the way it used to end."

Jade walked over and smiled at her princess friend awake.

"Hey you, I'm so glad to see you awake. You scared us all pretty bad when we first arrived..."

Kitana averted her eyes from everyone and focused on her lap.

"I'm so sorry for making you all worry about me... I truly am."

Sindel hugged her daughter as tightly as she was able to.

"Oh darling, I'm just happy to see you recovering from what you have endured over the years, however we didn't just come here to visit i'm afraid..."

Jade and Sindel's smiles both faded and Kitana noticed and began to worry.

"What's happening mother? What do you mean?"

"An unknown person has entered the realm so we are setting up extra guards for your chambers, it's nothing for you to worry about. You need to rest and let the medicine do it's work to help you heal."

The princess felt comfort from everyone around her and she nodded towards her mother.

"Alright mother, i'll get some much needed sleep...and I hope I don't have any more nightmares now that Liu is here with me."

Liu smiled and with sudden seriousness, he looked over at the two women.

"If i notice anything entering this room, I will defend Kitana with my life your highness."

Sindel nodded towards him and she stroked her daughters hair once more before getting up.

"Good night darling. If you two need anything, just ask the guards outside."

Jade followed behind and left as well leaving the two alone together again.

Kitana sighed and laid down and placed her head onto Liu's chest as she wanted to hear his heartbeat to help her fall asleep. As she predicted, she smiled as she heard his steady heartbeat which quietly lulled her to sleep along with exhaustion. Liu couldn't help noticing that she had a smile on her face as she cooed in his arms. Lovingly, he placed a tender kiss onto her cheek and he blew out the lone lamp that had kept the room lit and he laid down with her and he felt her squeeze him tighter and he planted a soft tender kiss on her cheek as he eventually fell asleep holding the princess close to him.

* * *

 _ **March 12th**_

Kitana awoke the next morning earlier than usual due to the pain of her wounds. She glanced over to her left to see her consort still asleep. She smiled and gently kissed his bare chest and Liu let out a very deep groan which Kitana laughed on the inside as it was pleasant to hear him so close to her. When Liu's eyes opened slowly, he looked down and saw Kitana looking up at him with a need for his attention.

"Hmm? What is it Kitana? Are you too sore?"

The princess nodded as she cringed from the pain. Liu climbed out of the bed to fetch her the medicine and a bowl of plain rice to keep her from having any reactions. Kitana had a lot of trouble to prop herself up to sit up, but eventually she managed to sit up on her own and she took the rice and her medicine as Liu climbed back in. She smiled and pecked his cheek then she took her medicine and coughed from the horrid taste of it.

"Elders... this medicine is the worst tasting one i've ever had..."

Liu helped her take the rest of it and passed her the bowl of rice.

"Well it may taste horrible love, but that is usually a sign meaning it's working."

After eating about a quarter of the bowl, the princess slowly laid herself back down and adjusted herself so she was comfortable in her consorts arms and very quickly fell asleep from his warmth. Before climbing into bed, Liu put the medicine and bowl back on top of her counter and let out a yawn as he made his way back into bed with Kitana already fast asleep. He carefully lifted her onto his chest and he noticed that she had another smile on her face again as she seemed more comfortable than before.

* * *

 _ **Later that morning, Sindel and Jade arrive at the next Edenian Royal Council Meeting for prisoner prejudgements...**_

Sindel sat down with Jade beside her in Kitana's chair as she was still bed ridden from her injuries. When the rest of the council arrived, Sindel stood before them all.

"Good morning everyone and thank you for attending this meeting of the royal council. As I said yesterday before we all left, we have about 8-10 prisoners that had been captured trying to take shelter in our realm. Today we will begin the prejudgements as well as deciding if they are to be granted a trail or not."

Sindel glanced at Jade and nodded and she looked over to the guards at the prisoner's entrench. "Guards, please proceed and prep the prisoners at once, but do not go near prison 1." she asked and the two soldiers saluted then disappeared.

Sindel leaned over and hushed over towards jade. "Jade, what's in prison 1 and why are they not to go near there?"

All the general did was smile and looked back at the queen. "It'll do more justice to show you in person later my queen"

Sindel nodded and within minutes, the two heavily armed guards returned with the prisoners who all had a bag covering the head. One by one they were lined up to be judged one by one. The first prisoner to be judged after the bag being removed was Movado. He was one of the thugs of the red dragon group. The councillors all sat quietly as Sindel glanced down at the thug who had a smirk on his face. A short but lively woman stepped forward and bobbed a curtsy towards the queen.

"Good morning your majesty! May I begin the list of charges for the prisoners?"

She held several parchments in her tiny hands and Sindel nodded in return and let her begin. She stepped up a tiny foot stool due to her small height and she cleared her throat and opened the first of several parchments. "Sir Movado of the red dragon clan, you are here by charged with several charges against you. They are as followed: 10 counts of murder of the first degree, 5 counts of attempted murder on royalty and many lesser charges which include assault, theft and vandalism. What say you?" All the thug binded in chains did was laugh and spit on the soldier who was moving the prisoners. The queen then looked at the court room announcer with a nasty glare that would frighten most. "Sentenced to death." The guards removed Movado from the court room and went through the prisoners one by one as they were each judged individually before the council.

A few hours later and returning from a recess session, the queen was sitting on her chair looking up at the ceiling completely oblivious to her surroundings, twirling her long hair around in small loops, Jade walked over with a glass of the finest wine for herself and Sindel.

"My queen, would you perhaps care for a little pick-me up? You appear to be bored to near frustration"

Sindel glanced over at the general and laughed "Yes I suppose I can. This meeting has been very long and tiresome as well as boring."

Taking the glass from jade, Sindel sipped on the wine and let out a sigh of relief. "Argus... That is exactly what I needed Jade. You always know what to get to help my mood. Alright, I believe it is time to judge the last prisoner now, call in the councilors" Jade nodded and jogged outside to gather the councilors after the two had finished the glass of wine and handing it to a servant who took the bottle away. When she returned, she sat back down next to the queen.

"Bring out the final prisoner for judgement please" She announced to the guards and they saluted and went to get the prisoner. Sindel looked over at Jade with a worrisome look.

"Why do I get the sense that this last prisoner is more important than the others were?" Giving a smirk while chuckling, the general looked over Sindel. "You'll see my queen".  
Coming out of the prisoner's holding room were the two guards as they uncovered the last prisoner. The whole room gasped in horror and in shock as to who it was.

"Greetings your highness, I hope you are doing well". The pale prisoner was none other than the sorcerer Shang Tsung. Feeling a surge of rage and anger, nearly consuming her, Sindel stood up almost immediately. " **YOU!** " Looking back the guards Sindel barked at the two them causing them both to jump out of fear. "Guards! Remove this filth from the courtroom and transferred to the titanium blocks **NOW!** " In fear of the queen's fury, the guards saluted quickly and before they could cover his head again, a green shadow zoomed passed the soldiers and stopped in front of them as the sorcerer's head fell to the ground.

Sindel and Jade along with the rest of the council were stunned at the lone shadow which still remained like a hologram. Jade growled and leaped down as she whipped her staff out but didn't extend it and stood in front of the shadow and appearing behind her was one of the megaton soldiers who was triple the size of an average edenian in both muscle mass and size of height. Stealth soldiers appeared from no where and had kunai and stars all ready to throw in an instant and in front of her was a small group of the royal guards with swords drawn and shields up.

"Halt holographic shadow! In the name of the royal edenian guards and freedom fighters, demand you reveal your identity immediately. I will not repeat myself again. This is your **ONLY** chance to cooperate. I suggest you take it as it is more chances I ever give anyone."

The shadow laughed which only made Jade more irritated and in a deep voice, the shadow responded to the general.

"Very well General Jade, I will comply with your demands if it means I am able to complete my primary objective."

The shadow uncloaked and a tall yet slender man with jet black hair that stood on it's own and had exceptionally bright emerald eyes and with a mask appeared from the cloak and glanced at Jade with his piercing eyes.

"General, My name is Daniel. My primary objective is to speak with Queen Sindel."

Jade looked over at him gripping her staff.

"Let's say that I do not believe you. What would you do then Daniel?"

He glared and drew out his weapon which materialized into a spear that was somewhat similar to her own bo staff. She looked over the unknown person and her eyes narrowed.

"Then I will be forced to disable you in order to reach my objective general."

She chuckled and looked at him with her own glare.

"Is that so?"

"If you haven't noticed by now, this room has hundreds of guards and soldiers from the finest military in our realm as well as our most elite soldiers we have been training for high risk missions or to guard something of the utmost importance. Our queen would be such a person to protect, and right now you appear to be a threat to the queen."

She looked back at the megaton guard and she tapped on his leg and the guard crouched down to be able to hear her.

"Soldier, can you kindly demonstrate how we treat our guests who threaten the queen?"

The mighty soldier let out a grunt and he opened his hand to help Jade back up on to the higher platform that sindel was sitting on and then turned as he started clenching his fists and raised them up. His hands glowed bright green and suddenly he swung his arms down at the man and let out a battle cry as the whole palace began to shake. When the dust and smoke cleared the room, everyone was in shock even more. Jade was utterly speechless as she glanced at what she was looking at in disbelief.

"What!? That's impossible! He stopped it with one hand!"

Daniel then gently pushed back against the soldiers powerful arms as he effortlessly discarded the soldier into a wall. Glancing up at Jade again, he turned and faced her with the same glare.

"Given the look on your face general Jade, I assume that I have surprised you?

Jade swiftly moved right to the bottom of the room and was about to smash him with her staff but suddenly Sindel yelled so she could hear her.

"Stand down Jade. I'll take it from here."

The general snarled but pulled back her attack as Sindel used her levitation power to gracefully land in the center of the room. She then approached him and stood before him.

"Greetings warrior, I am queen Sindel. I apologize about the welcoming but it is understandable since we are just being able to recover from the war. Now tell me why have you interrupted this meeting and cause a disturbance here. Answer me!"

Daniel fell onto one knee and he bowed.

"My queen, I am Daniel, last of the Royal Eclipse Paladins that served the king of edenia before shao kahn merged edenia with outworld.

Sindel and Jade gasped with surprise and grew silent. Then Sindel looked back up at him.

"I see. Follow me to my chambers. Jade, please follow"

Sindel levitated back up to the top of the room and dismissed the council and Jade bounced up following the queen and Daniel teleported up and followed the queen and general to her chambers to discuss what he wanted to talk about.

* * *

 _ **Who is this "Daniel" and what does he want with Queen Sindel? Is he a friend? or foe? and will Kitana and Liu Kang grow closer now that she opened up to him about her nightmares? Find out in the next chapter...  
**_

 _ **A/N:** _ This one took longer than I had anticipated. Although I am quite pleased of the turn out. Please review/favorite if you enjoyed this or want to help with how I write it. Thanks! ^.^

DJL


	5. Chapter 3: Forgotten memories

_**Chapter III: Forgotten memories  
**_

 _ **The warrior Daniel speaks of his origins, Sindel receives exceptional news , and a visitor surprises Jade  
**_

* * *

Just before Sindel, Jade and Daniel were about to leave the council meeting to discuss what he wanted to talk about, Jade turned and stopped him.

"As I'm sure that you mean well and appear to be honest, since we do not know you and what your intentions are, we will have to have guards bringing you in cuffs. It's nothing personal, just standard procedures for an unknown guest."

Nodding at her and stuck his arms out in front of him.

"Of course General Jade, I will offer no restraint as I am willing to cooperate with you "

When they reached sindel's chambers, the guards undid Daniel's cuffs and stood at the posts they were assigned to. Now sitting around a small table and Sindel sent away a maiden to fetch some beverages and Jade sat next to her.

"Now then Daniel, what did you wish to speak to me about that required such privacy?

"Thank you your highness, I have been waiting for an opportunity to finally find you. I was bound by shao kahn's magic ever since edenia was taken over. I was aware of him forcing you to marry him."

Jade glared at him as she noticed Sindel recalling the events and shuddering as Daniel spoke.

"What happened to our armies of royalty... It's a memory that haunts me even to this very day... General Jade, do you know the depths of your eclipse powers?"

"Meaning it's origin?" She asked while cocking an eyebrow up with curiousity.  
Daniel nodded. "Yes, the origins as to where they come from".

"Well... I don't really know to be honest..." She quietly said. Daniel smiled at her as Jade looked up at him.

"I will tell you when the evening hours arrive General Jade."

"Queen Sindel, I am the last of the eclipsians. Shao Kahn hunted each of us down individually and killed us all."

Sindel could was stunned at what she had heard. _"This can't possibly be! An ecplisian!? I thought they were all gone or had vanished... but slaughtered!?"_ she thought to herself.

"I was still a child at that point, but having my mother and father be killed with no reason or explanation as to why, I couldn't help but feel hatred towards him. When he tried to kill me, I was able to land one hit on him and send him back stumbling before a few of the soldiers pinned me down. He then started to laugh... Not in an evil way, but in a way as if he was impressed or surprised that a mere eclipsian child was able to draw blood from him. So he ordered me to be brought back to the palace, but before any of the soldiers started to beat me up, he then stated I was not to be harmed. One of them made a tiny cut on my arm and he was instantly killed by Kahn for making that mark on me."

All Sindel and Jade could do was stare in awe and near disbelief as to what he was saying and explaining.

"By the time I remember anything, I was old enough to feel and think for myself, but the memory that was plaguing my mind was the reoccurring nightmares of my mother and father being murdered. To Shao Kahn, I was nothing more than experiment to be tested on. So when he died, I was no longer bound to his palace and I was free to roam where ever I wanted to, but my origins and my past told me to come home."

Sindel raised her head after processing everything she had been told.

"So what are you wanting from me exactly Daniel? I still don't see how this has anything to do with me."

Daniel's eyes shift down to the ground, but Jade noticed his attention change. _"Why is he all of sudden so nervous? I'll find out later when I am able to speak to him privately"_ she thought.

Daniel looked up nervously at Sindel who was giving a glare as if she was ready to snap. " _Shit_ _she's right.. Well... I still have to show her the parchment and... what if she says no? I won't have anywhere else to go to... Well... Here goes nothing"_

"Well your majesty, I have this for you to look over" He said as he was taking off his strap on parchment and opening it for her to read over.

Jade and Daniel sat quietly as she read it over with care, then looked up at Daniel again as he was looking even more nervous than before.

"Based on what this parchment is saying... You were bound to shao kahn's service against your will, but he paid you for any work you did as if he was your employer. Well to me..."  
Sindel burned the parchment as Daniel looked in horror.  
"That agreement is irrelevant to me, but I will offer you the choice of wanting to stay in light of your heritage. I will let you make this decision if you wish to accept or decline my offer.

Daniel bowed his head "I would be honored to stay here your highness."

Sindel smiled and nodded "Very well then. Jade, where do you think he could stay?"

Jade tilted her head and pondered then looked back at Sindel.

"Well, there is extra space in my chambers right now I can offer for the-"

Before Jade could finish her sentence, Sindel butted in with her remark.  
"Ohhh, feeling a little exposed to need a bodyguard dear?"  
Sindel smirked at Jade and chuckled and Jade gasped and playfully smacked her shoulder.

"Ugggh, no no not at all! I'm just suggesting that my chambers are large enough for him to temporarily stay in"

All Daniel could do is just sit quietly and watch the two of them bickering at each other and let out a tiny chuckle.

Sindel looked back at Daniel with a smile. "Well then, it is settled then Daniel. You will take your things to Jade's chambers for the time being and tomorrow we will see about restoring your knight nobility, but not before you are given a tour of the palace and see where everything is." Looking over back to Jade who was getting up and playfully poked her pride again. "Okay Jade, show him the ropes of the palace before you go to your chambers. Now then, off you go with your... bodyguard" as she winked and laughed walking away.

Jade mumbled curses under her breath and walked over to Daniel standing and ready to proceed. Walking through the large palace and climbing up a large set of stone stairs slowly, Jade looked over at him with an eye brow raised.

"So Daniel, how much of your belongings are back at where you are right now? Is there a lot that you have to bring here still?"

He stopped and looked away, but then looked back at her.

"Actually... I don't have a home of my own General Jade. I've been on my own since I regained consciousness."

She looked over and shook her head. "Please, just call me Jade. There isn't any need to keep the professionalism all the time. So how come you came here all of a sudden?"

Daniel looked down quietly.

"I felt as if I owe all of edenia my life after being a... tool for his needs and wants. However when I reached the palace last night and was looking around for a suitable place to rest, I saw Kitana resting and there was someone else looking out the window as if he could see me. I shifted around to another spot and he was there looking up at me. So I went up onto the roof mirror and I saw him looking up at me, so I went over to other end of the castle to avoid being seen, but I am pretty sure he thinks I'm a threat."

Jade looked over and saw his worry patted his back "No worries, if Liu Kang tries anything, I'll be around. Besides, you'll be meeting him much sooner than you think. I have been planning to see Kitana after the meeting anyway so why don't you come along and we can sort out the mess between you and Liu?"

Looking over and nodding, He followed Jade off to Kitana's chambers.

* * *

Kitana had recently stirred awake to look up and see her consort looking at her. Looking at her and smiling, Liu Kang smiled at her as he brushed away some strands of her hair as he gazed into her light brown eyes and he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Good morning my dear. I trust you slept better this time?"

Kitana couldn't help but feel a large amount of blood rushing to her cheeks as she smiled back at him and laid her head into his chest.

"Yes I did... I feel well rested this morning actually. I don't know why, but I feel as if something has woken up inside me and I feel... Alive, but my injuries still keep me in reality all too much."

She looked away from him and looked sad, but Liu Kang lifted her head up and kissed her cheek.

"Do not worry so much love. Soon you'll be back up on your feet in no time."

Kitana heard a knock as she looked over at her door and she sighed.

"I'm pretty sure that's Yuhanna out there... Enter."

Opening the door quietly, the old healer walked in with a tray of food and several medicine.

"Ah good morning lady Kitana as well as you sir Liu Kang. I trust you both slept well then?"

Liu nodded and looked over to Kitana who had managed to prop herself up.

After half an hour of poking and prodding around the injured princess' body and taking notes and several temperatures, he bowed and closed the door to leave them in peace. Kitana just wanted to scream out in pain from the tests as she was squeezing her consorts hands to control the urge, but Liu had noticed she had started to water up.

"Damn it.. that hurt too much again. Guess that just further shows how weak and helpless I've become I guess..."

Liu looked down at her, with worry and held her closer to him and she let out more tears into his chest and she looked up at him as he lift her chin up.

"Don't talk like that Kitana. You are anything but weak, and you are really amazing and strong to be able to recover from such a wound. You're in good hands now and you're home here with me recovering."

Kitana smiled at him and leaned into him when she heard another knocking on her door.

Kitana looked over at the door with a curious look.

"I wonder who that is at this time." Liu shrugged as to who it was.

"Enter."

As the door opened, Jade poked her head through the little gap and smiled wide and glanced at Kitana who suddenly started to have a really large smile on her face.

"JADE! I'm so happy to see you here!"

Liu held her back as a serious face overcame him.

"Wait a minute Kitana... I feel something similar..."

Liu closed his eyes and looked around and saw that he was correct. He felt a familiar presence in the room and he looked behind Jade and saw what Kitana and Jade could not as he leaped from the bed with his flaming fist heading towards Jade suddenly.

"YOU! You will not come near Kitana!"

All Kitana could do was cry out as Liu was lunging forward rapidly.

"NO! LIU! DON'T DO IT!"

Suddenly Liu felt his fist being caught in mid air and he was shocked at this outcome. When appearing out of thin air, Daniel appeared holding Liu's flaming fist and he looked over at jade calmly

"Gener- I mean.. Jade, I will take this matter outside so you may speak in peace"

Daniel then lowered his arm still holding onto liu kang and with little to no effort, he then kicked liu kang out the balcony window and with unimaginable speed, he vanished after liu kang. Jade looking over at Kitana freaking out and about to climb over and Jade wisked to her side and stopped her from moving.

"Kitana! Kitana it's okay! Just relax! I can-"

Kitana was lashing out trying to get out of Jade's arms

"No! Let me GO Jade! He's in danger!"

Jade held her more firmly and tightly with a more serious face.

"Kitana. You need to stop thrashing around. Look at me and listen to me. He will be okay my dear. It was him that initiated the little brawl in the first place."

Kitana focused at at Jade looking into her serious emerald eyes.

"I...I'm sorry my friend... please forgive me."

Jade rubbed her back slowly and comfortably.

"It's no problem my friend. I will explain everything to you, but for now, let's get the boys back in here eh?" she winked over her.

" **DANIEL! COME ON BACK!"**

 _ **Meanwhile right outside the palace...**_

Liu kang landed in quite the amount of pain holding his shoulder when he looked up and saw the emerald eyed man standing before him.

"Grrr... Who are you!? Why have you come here!?" Liu barked at him, but all Daniel did was just look at him with piercing eyes. All this did was just anger the champion even more so than before.

" **ANSWER ME NOW!** **"**

Liu jumped towards him and started throwing punches at incredible speeds as Daniel had a hard time seeing them and dodging them when one stronger flaming punch connected with his jaw and smiled.

"So, how did that feel intruder? A little sore now?"

Daniel opened his eyes and looked down at the monk who had his eyes wide and speechless.

"No. Although I am surprised with the power you possess champion of earthrealm. Lady Jade was about to tell both you and lady Kitana my purpose here, but seeing as you saw through my cloak like last time I saw you, I had to protect lady Jade from your violent attack. That is why I kicked you out here."

Liu lowered his attack stance and backed off a bit to recollect his thoughts.

"So if your purpose here isn't against edenia and it's people. Then why are you here then?"

 **"DANIEL! COME ON BACK!"**

Looking over towards the palace, Daniel then grabbed liu suddenly making him panic

"Woah! What are you-

Within seconds, Daniel teleported back into Kitana's room and dropped Liu Kang on the ground in front of Kitana and stepped back towards Jade.

"Ah, welcome back Daniel. By the way thanks for the save." Jade said with a smile. "Anyways before I continue..." She helped Liu Kang up and dusted him off. "You alright there Liu? That must have been quite a kick to be able to send someone as powerful as you flying like that"

Liu nodded and Jade smiled over at Kitana

"See? I told you so, and now one last thing before we get started..."

Liu looked over at Jade who seemed to have clenched her fist near him

"What is it Ja-"

 **SMACK!**

Jade had quickly smacked Liu upside the head out of frustration and Kitana couldn't hold in her laugh as she bursted out loud

"The next time you do something as foolish as that in Kitana's presence, I promise you that you will wish you could relieve yourself by the time I'm done with you!"

Liu rubbed his head where she smacked him as Kitana was still laughing at him

"Of course, I apologize Jade."

Jade let out a sigh and sat down in a chair Daniel had pulled up for her as he was doing handstand push ups next to her.

"Alright, I have a lot to show him in regards of our military so i'll give you two the main details. Liu, Kitana, this man here is Daniel. He is one the last remaining Eclipsians and the last royal guard of that era to protect the king and queen of edenia before Shao Kahn took over. After he did so, he hunted down the eclipsians individually one at a time killing them all. That is until he came to the village where Daniel was. He tried to kill Daniel but he was punched by Daniel with enough force to draw blood. This impressed him enough to take him alive to the palace as a test subject for experiments. After Kahn was killed from the armageddon, he was no longer bound by Shao Kahns magic and he found his way here."

Kitana and Liu were both shocked at what they had just heard. Kitana looked over to her friend

"And that's... just the main parts of it?"

Nodding to Kitana, Jade stood up and put the chair back.

"Alright, I still have a lot to cover before tonight comes around, but I'll be back here for dinner this time, I promise. Now you two behave yourselves okay?"

Jade had smirked to Kitana earning her a mock glare and she left Kitana's chambers.

 _ **Later that afternoon...**_

Sindel yawned as she walked out to her balcony and stretched out her stiff muscles and joints with a few cracks and pops that followed as she did so. She couldn't help but wonder that something isn't quite right with her day yet. As she looked out onto the horizon to look at the villages and cities within edenia, she couldn't help but smile at how far they have come since the liberation. After coming back inside to sign a few more documents and read over new intel, Jade wondered in with Daniel as they were laughing and carrying on. Looking over at Jade with a smile,

"Ah welcome back Jade dear. I assume the tour around the palace was no trouble?"

"No problems at all really, just a small run down of what is what and where and how it functions and I also introduced him to Kitana and Liu Kang"

Sindel had noticed Jade looked a little on edge when she mentioned that and Sindel cocked an eyebrow up and leaned forward onto her desk.

"So I take it that's the reason I heard shockwaves coming from outside Kitana's balcony?"

Jade tensed up and froze on the spot not knowing how to respond but Sindel then started to laugh which helped her relax and saw a smile on her face.

"I thought as much dear, but don't worry. I thought that would happen as Liu's instincts would probably be to protect Kitana, but I am going to assume that everyone is playing nice now?"

"Yes yes we are ma'am" Jade said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Excellent! Now I want you to sh-"

Sindel was cut off from the sound of an explosion from one of the villages as she looked over to see where it was from her balcony and looking broken tower it came from, she looked at Jade and had started to laugh as along with Jade, but Daniel failed to see the humor in the situation.

"Umm... Excuse me your highness, but what exactly is so funny in this situation? I'm failing to see any humor right now"

Running into Sindel's chambers suddenly was Liu Kang as he ran up to Sindel and Jade seeing them laughing and he stood next to Daniel.

"So what are they laughing at? I just heard a massive explosion!"

Daniel looked down at him and shrugged and Liu sighed. Once Sindel and Jade had finished laughing, Sindel had a large grin on her face as if she felt completed.

"Ahh... That's what my day was missing. It couldn't be complete without an explosion coming from there."

Glancing over at Liu and Daniel now, "Allow me to explain what was so funny. See, where that explosion came from was the department of sciences and magics. They handle all of our substances needs and any testings that happens with anything foreign and/or dangerous as well as making of any fireworks and pyrotechnics."

Jade looked over at Sindel with a rather sarcastic look on her face.

"Wait a second, isn't it run by that crazy guy who loves to make things explode?"

Pinching her nose bridge, she sighed at Jade's question,

"Yes... that is correct Jade. Dr. Jordan to most people is a crazy mad man who loves explosions of any size. However to those who know his gentler side, Dr. Jordan is one of the most brilliant scientists in Edenian history. He helped design some of the natural generators that help sustain the villages that are farther out from the palace. Not only that, but his invention of the portal station which our allies from earthrealm helped us build so we could open steady and safe portals to different realms. So not only does he provide an entertainment for myself, but he's part of the reason why we have been able to reach where we are since the liberation. In exchange for unlimited reasources for researching solutions, we built a tower that could instantly rebuild itself no matter the size of the explosion and none of the civilians would get hurt too."

Looking up at Liu and Daniel who had been attentively listening to her,

"Now do you understand why we were laughing at this?"

"Yes your highness." both warriors said

Looking back at Jade with a smirk,

"Jade, can you show Daniel to where your chambers are and help him... Settle in" as she winked at Jade earning her a glare as she laughed.

"Oh relax Jade, you know i'm just teasing you" she said while still smiling as she looked over at Liu Kang.

"I'm going to go see my daughter and I'm sure you want to be there to help her stay relaxed too yes?

Liu nodded and followed her out the doors and headed to the right.

Jade swatted Daniel's arm as he looked down at her looking up at him.

"Come on, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping for the time being."

Nodding towards her, Daniel followed Jade out of Sindel's chambers to the left as the doormen closed the doors of her chambers.

After turning a corner before the main hall way, she glanced at Liu kang.

"I would like to know how Kitana is doing."

Liu looked back at Sindel with both his eyebrows raised

"Well, if that's what you want, why not as master healer Yuhanna?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed.

"If I asked old man Yuhanna, he'd go on and on and on with all kinds of medical details that would bore me. I'd rather hear it from you in a simple way."

Looking away from her, his shoulders slumped down a bit

"At first, she was... Well... You saw for yourself how bad it was. All I wanted to do was just hold her as tight as I could, but with her injuries it made it almost impossible for me to even hold her at all."

Stopping in front of the hallway before Kitana's chamber, Sindel put her hand on his shoulder.

"I know you're doing everything you are able to at this point Liu, I don't know what kind of state she would be in if it were not for your presence around her so much recently so thank you for that."

"It's no trouble your highness, I'm just going with my instincts and to protect her from as much as I can now that I am alive again. He said while giving a slight bow

Sindel waved him off suddenly. "You don't have to be professional around me all the time Liu. However if you are in front of the royal council, then yes by all means use my title. Other then that, just call me by my name"

Turning around, she looked back at him with a grin on her face. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to head down to that tower to see what the cause of the explosion was."

* * *

 _ **Later at the Centre of Edenian Science...  
**_

Sindel walked up to the building and smiled as the magics were still working as the tower had fully rebuilt itself by the time she got there. She used her powers to fly up to the top floor of the tower to see the "crazy guy" that was also in charge of a project that Sindel has had him working on since the liberation of edenia happened. She then flew in the window of his lab which was surprising small given the size of the tower. Looking for the doctor but wasn't in his main lab. _"I wonder if he's in the OTHER lab.."_ She thought to herself as she pulled a lever that said "do not pull" half way down, then turned it around and flipped it up as she heard a hissing sound coming from behind her as a new set of stairs leading up higher were now able to be seen by anyone. She knew this upset him greatly so she did him a favor by closing it as well by touching the gargoyle next to the bottom step. Reaching the top step at last, she turned and saw that Dr. Jordan was deep into some mixtures for formula so she thought she would scare him for a little fun. Standing behind him she quietly waited for him to turn around and when he did, she was not disappointed with his reaction.

" **AHH! OH GOD WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU-** Oh... It's you your highness... Sorry for that. You startled me a bit" Hanging his head as she was laughing.

She helped him pick up the rest of the papers he was holding. "I'm sorry as well doctor, but that was too much of an opportunity to pass up. Now to the reason I'm here. Aside from the explosion which was awesome by way, how is your progress on coming along with... that one project?" Looking at him with a more serious face.

He smiled and chuckled at her question. "Well I'm glad you asked madam, I may have hit the jackpot of all findings this time!" Noticing the instant smile on her face, he quickly brought her back to reality.

"However! There is a matter that needs to addressed madam. It's regarding the... ummm..." he looked away from her quickly and noticing himself being very nervous.

Looking at him and sighing as to what he was talking about. A part of her knew what it was. "It's about the remains isn't?" The doctor nodded quietly. "I see... Well we both knew that going anywhere near there would happen at some point... I just wasn't sure when it would happen."

He placed his hand on her shoulder with a smile. "Don't worry madam, I already have all of the preparations all set up and ready for whenever you wish to pursue this plan of yours. I need to warn you though that when we do this, the whole realm will be able to see the magics that shoot out of the tower so it will not be a surprise when we do it. When do you wish to pursue with this plan of yours madam?"

Sindel gave it some thought before answering him. When suddenly an idea hit her and a big smile overcame her face. "I know! We can do it during Kitana's wedding whenever she decides to get married!"

Looking absolutely confused, the doctor tilted his head with an eyebrow raised. "Umm madam. I don't mean to interrupt you, but isn't sir Liu Kang dead?"

She smiled at him "Not anymore." he gasped when she responded and laughed out loud. "Oh argus this is too good to be true! My lifes greatest work of the century will be accomplished! Thank you for this piece of exceptional news madam! I cannot wait to start this!"

Walking towards the window and looking back at him with smile "Thank you for your time doctor. It's always a pleasure."  
Nodding back, he bowed slightly as she took off from his window.

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile in Jade's chambers..._**

Jade had just stepped out of a relaxing hot shower and she wrapped herself in a towel and proceeded to her room when she saw Daniel entering her chambers and looked at her in her towel and had a bright red blush on his face.

"Woah.. I mean uh... I mean.. umm... hello lady Jade"

Jade couldn't help but laugh at his shyness as his blush turned into a darker shade of red.

"It's quite alright Daniel, I wasn't expecting you to come visit me this late in the evening. Just let me get dressed and I'll come out into the-"

Cutting her off suddenly "Actually lady Jade, I have an idea of where we can go to talk so I can explain your powers peacefully. I do love everything about the palace, but it's not a good place for what I want show you." He piped up before she could finish her sentence.

She looked at him and nodded and as she finished getting dressed and approached him.

"So where are we headed to Daniel?" As she was now looking up at him.

Daniel swept her off her feet like a princess and chuckled. "Hold on tight!" As he used his powers to move at dizzying speeds to the roof tops of the palace and the night time sky was beautiful as there were no clouds to cover the moon and shining stars illuminated the sky as Jade covered her mouth with her hands.

"Oh wow! This is... This... I don't even know what to say right now, I jus-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Daniel placed a finger on he lips to stop her from talking. "No need to say anything lady Jade. Aside from being royalty and noble, we were also taught to be a gentleman above all and do everything with honor and pride."

Feeling a slight blush on her face, Jade looked away from the warrior. "Oh... Well... Then thank you."

Giving a nod gesture, he took his hands and placed them together flat.

"Now then, are you ready witness the potential of your eclipse powers?" Jade nodded silently as Daniel could tell he had her undivided attention and he pulled apart his hands to see a green aura him suddenly.

"This is the basic level of the eclipse powers and I know you are able to do this with little or no effort yes?"

Nodding again and showing him her eclipse power aura shined bright green

"Yes! Very good lady Jade! Now I am aware that you can take it one stage higher but not for very long yes?"

Looking away from him and twirling her thumbs around. She looked at him once more with courage that showed.

"That is correct... As much as I hate telling you... I don't tell anyone that kind of information of myself often..."

Smiling and holding both her hands in his larger hands. "Do not worry lady Jade, I will teach you the ways of the Eclipse paladins. Now then, why don't we go back into your chambers?"

Nodding she blinked and before she knew it, Jade was back inside her room as Daniel gently set her down.

Still blushing at him, Jade looked up at the warrior. "Thank you for that Daniel. I'm certain you'll help me reach new heights."

"Anytime lady Jade. Now where am I sleeping?"

Nearly forgetting, Jade ran to the other end of the room "Oh shit! I'm so sorry! I forgot! Umm.. uh... Hold on a minute okay?"

Jade rushed back and forth from one end of the room to the other as she set up a futon across her room.

"Here you are! If you need anything, don't hesitate to let me know okay?" smiling up at him.

Daniel nodded back at her. "I will and I bid you good night lady Jade

He watched her climb into bed and lay down as he laid down on the bed that was provided for him and he fell asleep from exhaustion just like Jade did.

Early in the morning hours, Daniel heard Jade shivering from her bed and he thought of how he could help her sleep better so he took the blanket that was given to him to use on her bed and he smiled as he pulled his cloak to keep himself warm as he held his spear close to his chest


	6. Chapter 4: Strength of past memories

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, I had a few things to take care of that required my full attention. I will be putting up a poll to determine what kind of plot twist to throw in. I already have them planned out and how to throw it in, but I want you guys to vote for which one so please be sure to visit my profile in order to view the poll. It will be a blind poll so you won't know which one it is until it's too late! *insert evil laugh***

 **Chapter IV: Strength of past memories  
**

* * *

 **Deep within the palace.. A large pair of titanium doors with onyx chains across horizontally...  
**

Two royal guards were standing in front of the doors doing the usual overnight shift. Bickering at each other and complaining.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, this sucks! I can't believe we got chosen to do another 4 rounds guarding this giant waste of metal. I mean who the HELL builds a set of doors made out of our rarest minerals within our realm just to keep it closed all the time!?" One of the guards whined.

The other guard shrugged at his complaining and leaned on a wall.

"Hey, it's not all that bad. It's the easiest job in the palace with the most pay! 15 onyx an hour!"

"Yeah, I guess so. Still, could they at least make this place a little easier to see?" the shorter guard asked.

The other one laughed at him and his misery

"Oh yeah sure! Go ahead and take that up with the general! She'll probably beat your ass without breaking a sweat! HAHAHAHA!"

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM**_

The whole room rumbled violently as both guards stood up and readied the weapons they had.

"What the fuck was that!?" said the shorter guard

"I'm not sure...but keep your guard up."

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM**_

This time the chains across the doors rattled a little bit as both guards stood ready to attack what ever was behind the doors.

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM**_

The chains on the titanium doors rattled violently as the guards crept closer to the exit of the room.

Suddenly... the doors opened slowly as the chains fell right off the locks as if it were ethreal. Now there was just enough light so that smoke could now be seen on the ground. The smoke had an ominous feeling to it as if something was going to grab them from below. Looking up from the ground, the two terrified guards looked at a figure emerging from the room. The figure lifted it's hand up and both guards were now dangling from the ground. In an instant, a flash of blinding light lit up the whole room and the shorter guard was already dead as if something snapped his neck and was tossed aside as it turned to ashes while the smoke consumed the remains of the body. Now gazing into the remaining guards eyes, the figure pulled out a sinister looking key that was jet black and had a blue aura around it and attached to it was a small bag to place the key inside that had the words "Urgent: Queen Sindel" on the outside of it. The figure released the guard and pointed out towards the exit as if demanding to send the message. Without being told twice, the buff royal guard ran for his life while squealing like a little girl at the top of his lungs. The figure went back into the door and it closed violently and the chains locked up around the spots it needed to be in.

* * *

 _ **The next morning...  
**_

Sindel woke up lazily and rolled out of bed stretching out her joints as they all popped back into place. A shorter servant walked into her chambers with her breakfast all prepared and ready to the exact detail as she wanted.

"Ah! Good morning your highness! How are you this morning?" The smaller servant chirped as she handed Sindel her morning tea.

Taking a small sip of the tea and letting out a pleasant sigh of satisfaction, She turned to the cheerful servant with a smile. "Ahhh... this tea is absolutely perfect every morning. How do you manage to make it to my needs every morning without tiring yourself out?" she asked while sipping on her tea and eating as well, the servant blushed a bright red at her question.

"Well... it's easy for me to remember things after doing a task for a while. I know when I first came here, I didn't make it perfectly to the right specs...but I got the hang of it though!" the servant replied with a smile.

Sindel chuckled and placed her now empty dishes and tea cup back onto the tray.

"Well thank you again dear. You seem to have fit right in perfectly which reminds me..." She wandered to her desk and pulled out a scroll and opened it quickly scanning it over. "Ah yes...here it is. Could you come here for a moment dear?"

The cheerful servant walked over to her with the tray in her hands. "Yes your highness?"

"I'm appointing you to be my personal servant for meals as of right now. You have perfected the meals that I need with such grace. To let someone as talented as yourself stay with the other servants would be useless. So I congratulate you on your new position." She spoke as she signed the document and resealed it with the royal stamp and handed it to the servant who was looking at her in awe as well as shock.

"I...I... Th-thank you so very much your highness! I...I don't know what to say right now"

Sindel chuckled and turned towards the door when her chamber doors flew open violently scaring the servant who dropped the tray and hid behind Sindel. She looked at the person with a glare and stepped forward.

"What is the meaning of this rude entry!? explain yourself at once!" Sindel demanded. The guard approached her slowly without making any kind of sound or noise but was holding a brown bag that had "Urgent: Queen Sindel" on it. Furrowing her brows she walked up to the guard and saw his eyes had an emptiness to them as if he wasn't there. She took the bag from him and walked back to her desk when she heard the guard now screaming in such agony and pain, she grabbed the servant hiding near by and hid behind the desk as the guard screaming in pain suddenly exploded and all of his body parts and blood and organs were scattered everywhere. Sindel stood up to see what had transpired.

"What... what just happened?"

She opened the bag and dumped it's contents only to see the jet black key with the blue aura around it. Sindel gasped at the sight of it in horror.

"No... No this can't be happening... Not now! NO!"

* * *

 **2 months later...  
**

Kitana had woken up after a well needed nap from the recent council meeting as she nearly fell asleep in the meeting. Slowly getting out of her bed while trying not to reopen any of her healing wounds, she removed her blouse carefully to inspect her wound and shivered when she saw it. It was still very tender when she poked at it, but she put on the healing cream around the wound area and put on a clean blouse and robes. She then walked out onto her balcony and looked out into the horizon and smiled as she looked at the beauty her realm had to offer, but before she could do anything else, she felt a familiar warmth wrapping around her from behind as she yelped quietly to see her consort holding her from behind.

"Hello there beautiful" as he looked into her eyes as she was blushing.

From another side of the palace, they both heard a loud roar that would put any animal in earthrealm to shame as Liu quickly shifted his head back and forth trying to find the source of the sound, but looked down when he heard her giggling like a little girl.

"Care to enlighten me what is so funny?"

She turned around and pulled his face into hers as she planted a long soft kiss on his lips and smiled. "Come, i'll show you what it was" as she took his hand and traveled to the back end of the palace. Meanwhile, Jade was on one of the branches and was looking at the commotion occurring in front of her as she looked over and saw Liu Kang and Kitana walk out of the palace and she walked over to the couple.

"Hey there you love birds! Come to enjoy the show?" Jade asked as she wrapped her arms around both of them with a smile.

"Ha! Actually, I was going to introduce Liu to her actually."

Jade couldn't help but laugh at the wondrous entertainment to soon come.

"Oh argus, this is going to be quite a show! Have fun with that!"

Kitana walked back to Liu and walked him over towards the barrack where a few servants were having trouble trying move a giant white furred tiger with crimson red stripes and massive fangs into the room that it was being kept. The tiger batted the servants away gently and yawned.

"Uhh... Kitana? What is that?" Liu asked as he was worried as to what he was looking at and if it was a threat to her.

Still giggling, Kitana walked over to the servants struggling to move the tiger. "It's alright, I'll take care of it myself"

The servants walked back into the palace leaving just herself, Liu and the tiger. Slowly approaching the tiger, Liu quickly walked up and held her hand trying to pull her away.

"Kitana wait! It might be dangerous or mayb-"

Kitana then pulled out a little ball with bells on it and started to shake it in front of the giant tiger and it opened it's eyes and stretched out as it looked down at Kitana as she reached up to it. It laid down on all four legs as she rubbed it's cheeks and Liu heard it purr gently and nuzzling into her.

"Awww, there there my little Rikiko, I missed you as well. No need to be a grumpy kitty alright?" She crooned as she continued to rub the tiger gently, but then Rikiko noticed Liu and jumped up on it's feet ready to pounce on him with a snaring growl. Frowning a bit now, Kitana gently hit the tigers paw to get it's attention again.

"Rikiko, down girl!" Kitana suddenly said with an authoritative voice and the tiger looked down at Kitana, but this time she had a concerned look on her face which easily made the tiger relax and stop snarling. "Rikiko, this is my consort, Liu Kang. Please don't eat him. I'll be very upset with you if you do."

Walking up to Liu Kang who was paralyzed in fear, Rikiko walked around him while sniffing him and poking him carefully for a few minutes. Afterwards Rikiko made an approving grunt as he licked Liu suddenly and Kitana couldn't hold in her laughter as she bursted out loud laughing at her consort who was now covered in saliva and drool from being licked and then gets squished by Rikiko and continues to get licked while Kitana is in tears laughing at him and she frees Liu from becoming the tigers snack and begins to dry him off.

"Jeez, I'm glad your finding my humiliation amusing" remarked sarcastically

"Oh stop it Liu, I'm just glad she approved of you" Kitana said while finishing what she was doing.

"Before you ask, Rikiko is a girl, she did that because that's her way of saying that she approves of you."

Walking back to the couple, Jade began to run at Kitana at full tilt until she was just about to hit her, she flipped over Kitana and landed on Rikiko's head and scratched behind it's ears gently and the tiger purred with approval as she carefully lulled Rikiko to a peaceful state and looked down at Kitana.

"So Kitana, I know most of your wounds are visibly gone, but honestly how are you doing?"

"Overall, I'm doing quite fine. Although it is still difficult for me to climb stairs, but Liu has been helping me with that aspect of my recovery."

Jade just shrugged at her best friend and climbed down the now sleeping tiger and stood beside Kitana who let out a sigh.

"That's understandable given the condition you were in. Have you had lunch yet by the way?"

Kitana shook her head as Liu came over to the two ladies all dried off.

"No we haven't had lunch yet Jade, although I'm sure Kitana would LOVE to join us!" Leaning into her with a smirk and Jade had to hold back a chuckle.

Starting to panic a bit, Kitana started to back up.

"W-wha do you mean Liu?" she said as she put on a fake smile.

Rolling his eyes at his consort, he swooped her off the ground which he heard Kitana yelp as he held her bridal style.

"Come on, lets go eat! Hopefully they have cooked up something great today! I'm starving!" Liu announced as they walked into the dinning room. Once everyone made it to the dinning room, he let down Kitana and pulled out a chair for her which to that gesture she blushed.

"My my darling, such a gentleman." She took her seat while blushing as he pushed in her chair and sat next to her smiling as Jade sat on the opposite end with a toothpick in her hand trying to pick something out of her teeth and after a few minutes, they heard a loud bell ringing and a loud voice coming from the kitchen.

"Lunch is now ready!"

Instead of the usual chef coming out with the meals, everyone in the room gasped in shock as they saw Daniel coming out with the meals being carried along his arms.

"Ah, good afternoon lady Jade, lady Kitana and sir Liu kang" as he placed each meal on the table. Kitana and Liu loved what they were seeing on the table in front of them, but noticed something about Jade all of a sudden. Her eyes were completely fixed upon Daniel walking in and out of the kitchen. Looking at each other, Liu and Kitana laughed at her and began to eat.

Jade on the other hand was mesmerized at what she was seeing. _"Argus... I wasn't expecting him to be cooking for us...but my oh my is he a wonderful sight right now... Those steel like abs and muscles along with his scars... GAH! Come on Jade, focus here, your not a pervert of any kind.. but still... mmm... I'll need to have another peek at that later"_ she thought as she licked her dry lips and turned to the table and noticed Kitana and Liu laughing at her.

"Hey! What's so funny Kitana!" she said as she pouted and crossed her arms

"Oh nothing... I was just looking around the room and Liu told me something funny" giving her an innocent looking smile as Liu smiled as well trying to go along with it.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight... I'm so sure thats the reason why" she said while rolling her eyes.

A loud grunt was heard from the kitchen as everyone turned towards the kitchen doors as Daniel suddenly came out with a massive tray filled with ribs that were cooked and spiced to absolute perfection and everyone was drooling as the platter came to the table and Daniel sat down but just before Jade and Kitana could reach for the ribs, Daniel smacked the two hands with the serving tongs quickly.

"Ah ah ah. The chef gets first dibs" he said with a large grin as the girls were pouting but Liu took Kitana's hand and rubbed it with ice. After serving himself, everyone quickly served themselves and began to eat with joy.

* * *

 **30 Minutes later...**

Everyone was at the table still unable to move from the filling meal as they groaned from such a satisfying meal. Kitana let out a small burp which Liu looked at her suddenly and laughed as he kissed her cheek. Daniel on the other hand let out a loud burp and had a toothpick between his teeth, then beside him he heard an even louder burp which scared him as he fell back from his chair and everyone looked over to Jade nibbling on the last of her ribs and she casually threw the last bone on the large pile in the middle of the table and looked at everyone staring at her with shock.

"W-what? What I do?" she asked to try to break the silence while looking at the three friends. Sudden bursts of laughter then filled the air and Jade was even more confused as she blushed and crossed her arms and huffed.

"Alright, I need to throw on my rub on medicine now. Liu can you help me with the stairs again?" she asked as she was getting up slowly when Jade interjected with a laugh.

"Hey be careful Liu! We don't need the old hag to break a hip!" she quickly had to duck from the speed of Kitana's fans flying over her head and kept laughing at Kitana who was as red as a strawberry from anger.

"JAAAAAAAAAAAAAADE! I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT! COME BACK HERE!" She yelled out as she tried to chase Jade but was swept off her feet by her consort.

"Liuuu! Let me go!" She whined as she tried to escape his embrace.

"I would, but your wounds aren't fully healed yet. If you were to chase her now, you would reopen it again, and I don't want anymore sleepless nights worrying about you."

Looking at his face, Kitana stopped squirming around in his arms and let out a reluctant sigh as she knew that she wouldn't escape.

"Alright alright... I'll behave" she said with a slight pout

Jade came back with Kitana's favorite beverage and placed it in her hands.

"Sorry Kitana, I couldn't waste such an amazing opportunity like that" she said as if she was innocent.

"Well... That was certainly interesting." Daniel murmured after clearing the table of all dishes. Liu just nodded as they saw Sindel walk past the table and saw them both standing there.

"Jade called Kitana an old hag didn't she?" Sindel asked both men as they snapped out of a daze.

"Yes... she did" Liu let out a sigh as Sindel facepalmed and groaned.

"I need to speak with all four of you in private. Follow me to my chambers." she finished with a serious tone.

* * *

 **Later in Sindel's chambers...  
**

"Thank you everyone for coming with me so suddenly. I have... Terrible news to tell you all as it will affect each one of you differently."

Kitana leaned in with concern "What is it mother?"

Sindel dropped a brown bag in the center of the table that they were sitting at. Kitana went to reach for it but stopped as she looked at her mother as if asking for permission to open it. All she did was nod and Kitana opened up the bag to see what's inside it and she started to break down into tears.

"No... nononono... not now! No!" She started to sob uncontrollably as she buried herself into Liu's arms as he tried to comfort her as best he can

Jade cocked up an eyebrow and turned the bag towards her to see what had caused her best friend to crumble into the state she was now in and Jade sat up and backed away slowly.

"Elders... This can't be happening right now. Not when we are still recovering from the war!" She fell onto the wall and wrapped her arms around herself as she shuddered and started to whimper, but Daniel up to her and did his best to comfort her without making her feel anymore afraid of what she saw, but as he got closer, Jade lunged at him and just began to sob holding onto him for dear life. Daniel didn't know what to do right now, so he trusted his instinct and held her in his arms as tight and as close to him as possible and walked back to the table with her in his arms still, but after a few minutes Jade lifted her head from his chest and wiped her eyes.

"Th-thank you Daniel..." She sniffed regaining her senses and her thoughts.

"It's no problem lady Jade" he said with a small smile

Sindel removed the bag from the table and turned to the four sitting around her and sighed.

"Given the reactions of the two ladies... They already know what is coming very soon..." as she turned to Liu and Daniel who were holding Kitana and Jade respectively and she let out a sigh.

"Since you two do not know, I will explain what is happening. What has come to us a few months ago is a sinister key that upholds a few of our most ancient exams. The key was made as a fail safe so if anything entered our realm and we were all but doomed, the fail safe would all but obliterate all forms of life no matter the size. However not just ANYONE is able to do this exam. There are certain elected individuals who are chosen by the key. There is a maximum amount of people who can be chosen which that number is four. If said individual were to come out of the room alive, they are automatically promoted to the highest level of edenian guardian positions of the individuals choice. If they fail... Then all we will see is the persons corpse. Are you two following so far?"

All Liu and Daniel could do was nod in silence.

"Good. I also must mention that there are four colours for one key. So lets say just Kitana and myself were chosen. The key would have two colors of auras. If three are chosen, then the one person who gets the second proceeds first. So this aura is the blue which represents the mentality test. It hasn't changed color since I received it because I haven't activated the search. Sadly... From the few survivors that have told me about the exam, it will strain your soul and stretch you to your absolute limit of mentality to the point of breaking and falling into insanity. However, I am going to do something that has not been done since the tenth exam."

Kitana wiped her eyes and looked at her mother with a confused look.

"What do you mean mother? Do you mean that you will try to appeal for a delay?"

"Yes that is exactly what I will do. While the keeper of the exam is harsh and unforgiving, she is also reasonable and fair. So we must leave here immediately and make our way to the doors."

Kitana clutched herself closer to her consort and looked at him.

"Darling, there are too many stairs for where we have to go and I need to put on my rub-on medicine."

Sindel waved her off "No worries dear, I had a servant stop by with the rub-on. We will depart once you have applied it for your wounds."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Liu walked over to the bathroom with the rub-on medicine and closed the door to help her put it on.

Daniel put Jade down beside him and he walked over to Sindel.

"Your highness, am I able to ask the keeper about how I can proceed with my reinstatement?"

She tilted her head and pondered on that question but came up empty.

"I'm afraid I do not know Daniel. We shall ask her when we get there."

* * *

 _ **In the bathroom while the others are waiting...**_

"Alright, I'll set you down here."

Liu carefully put his consort down trying not to re open any wounds then he turned around to get the medicine ready.

"Alright Kitana, here's yo-"

Liu couldn't finish his sentence as he stared at her without her blouse on for the first time and was just in awe at the raw beauty that is his consort. He felt a sudden rush of heat starting to swell his cheeks as he was trying to come up with any kind of word to say but it was all in vain. Noticing that Liu was staring at her, Kitana turned her head and giggling at him.

"If I must say so myself darling, you look absolutely adorable when you're blushing" she said as she placed her soft hands on his cheeks and pulled him closer and slowly placed a soft and tender kiss on his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck and straddled him carefully as Liu leaned back to let her have the needed space to wrap her arms around him as he in turn wrapped his around her slim waist carefully. For the couple, it had almost seemed like time had slowed down in order to savor and cherish the moment together. Both lovers began a duel of domination over the other using tongues as the selected weapons trying to enter the others. This was short lived as they slowly broke off the kiss which was one thing both of them did not want to do at all, but the need for oxygen was needed so reluctantly, they broke off the kiss and had each others foreheads pressed on one another.

"Argus Liu... If I were not still recovering from my wounds, I would be doing so many wondrous things with you right now." Kitana whispered with lust as she gently kissed the tip of his nose and smiled.

Liu caressed her cheek and kissed her softly with his own smile. "As much as I love that idea my love, I don't think keeping your mother waiting is a good idea.

Kitana giggled at the fact of that statement. "Ah yes I suppose your right... Mother may be kind and gentle, but her patience is thin."

She quickly applied the rub-on and adjusted her undergarment and slid her top back on and stood up as Liu opened the door.

Jade was the first to pipe up at the sight of them coming out.

"Hey! About time you two love birds came out of there! Trying to make the next generation already eh?" She slyly asked which she had the intention of making Kitana angry once again. Which was a success.

"What was that Jade!?" Kitana snapped with her fans in her hands ready to throw them.

Jade started to laugh and walked over to her and gave her a tight hug.

"Oh don't be so stuck up Kitana, you know I'm just messing with you"

"Yeah I know... Sorry about that..." She mumbled with a blush on her face from embarrassment.

Sindel let out a sigh and started to walk towards her chamber doors and turned to the group.

"Alright, are we all ready to go?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, let's get going then."

* * *

 **Underground in a dim stairwell...**

As they went deeper and deeper down the stairs, it was getting darker and colder and each step they took could be heard as an echo. Stopping at a set of large titanium doors with diamond patterned chains across each part of the doors preventing any random person from entering. The guards saluted to the queen and unlocked the doors carefully to make sure none off the locks got tangled.

"We have arrived." Sindel stated as they walked through the doors. Looking around the massive room as if they were a tourist to a new country in earthrealm in the four corners of the room there were four skulls and each skull had a crown on but the style and shape and size of the crown represented the royal status. Daniel and Liu kang were awed at the sheer size of the room.

"Wow! This place is huge your highness!" Liu exclaimed and Sindel chuckled at his response.

"Yes it really is. That was my response the first time I was brought here too, but make no mistake. This place is one of the most horrific places in all of edenia. Part of me wishes that it never had to exist in the first place" she said with a sad tone.

Approaching the middle of the giant room, Sindel took one of Kitana's fans to ever so slightly make a small cut on her wrist and let blood drip onto the floor when suddenly the floor illuminated and right before everyones eyes, a silhouette appeared and curtsied to Sindel.

"Greetings your majesty. How may I assist you?"

"Yes, I wish to speak with the examination court regarding the timing of the exam."

The silhouette looked away from her and sighed.

"Oh... Them... Well I wish you the best of luck on your appeal your majesty" then the silhouette disappeared as the eyes on the skulls lit up and they spoke in harmony.

" **We are the ancients of Edenia. Speak your demand Queen Sindel. What is it that you wish to ask of us?"**

Sindel stepped forward and looked up at them.

"I have come before you to humbly request that the examination be delayed."

A small pause was eventually broken with the answer to her request.

 **"State your reasoning as to why we should allow your request to delay one of the most sacred examinations? What chain of events have occurred to ask such a thing of us?"**

Sindel took a deep breath and started to pace back and forth.

"My reason is this: As you are aware of the events that recently took place, we are still recovering from the armageddon war and tending to the wounded. My daughter who is one of the chosen to proceed with this examination was critically wounded in the battle. Had we not rushed to get back to the palace, I would not be standing here right now. She may be able to walk around the palace, but her wounds are not ready to take on such a thorough examination. She will die before the examination is barely at 25%. My daughters well being is my reason for the request."

After a pause of pure silence, they came up with the final verdict.

 **"Queen Sindel, your reasoning is just and honest. We the ancients of Edenia have come to a final verdict upon your request: We have chosen to..."**

Sindel felt as if her heart was beating too fast to pay attention, but she maintained herself from losing it entirely.

 **"Grant your request for an examination delay. We will provide you with this crystal orb to determine the day of the examination. When this orb shatters, that will be the day of the exam."**

A small orb that looked like it could be a desk decoration appeared into her hands.

 **"Now then, is there anything else you need of us Queen Sindel?"**

She paused momentarily and spoke up

"I personally do not have anything else I need, but one of these warriors has an interesting question."

Daniel nodded at Sindel as he stepped forward towards the ancients and fell to one knee

 **"Greetings Warrior of Edenia. What is it that you wish to ask of us?"**

Now looking up and standing again, he took a deep breath as he wasn't sure what to expect.

"Ancients, I am the last of the Eclipsians of Edenia. Everyone else of my bloodline was slaughtered by the tyrant Shao Kahn. Now that I am free from his magic and spells, I wish to reinstate my position within the royal guard and military."

The ancients looked at one another and nodded.

 **"We were led to believe that the eclipsians had died out. Anyways. Tell us eclipsian: what was your ranking within the military of edenia? When were you stripped of your ranking?"**

Looking at them seriously, Daniel had a sad look on his face.

"My rank was master general before Shao Kahn merged the realms."

The ancients gathered together and had a small debate and came back to the warrior awaiting an answer.

 **"We the ancients of Edenia acknowledge your claim and we will allow you entry into the examination to reclaim your lost rank. Now is there anything else that you require of us?"**

Daniel shook his head and bowed to the ancients and Sindel stepped forward again.

"There is nothing else that were require of you now ancients, and we humbly thank you for your time and wisdom for our questions."

The four nodded and disappeared as they transported the group back to Sindel's chambers.


	7. authors note

discontinued for the time being until I come up with more.


End file.
